Tod’s inks collab with Mame Kurogouchi for T Factory

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Feb 4, 2020

Tod’s has linked up with the noted Japanese designer brand Mame Kurogouchi for its latest T Factory collaboration.

First launched in September 2018 with a collaboration with Alessandro Dell’Acqua, T Factory is a series of “conversations” with creatives. The title is short for Tod’s Factory and references Andy Warhol’s famed art studio in Lower Manhattan, The Factory, back in the 60s.
 
At the time of the launch, Tod’s owner, Italian luxury billionaire Diego Della Valle, bragged that he already had the next three creators lined up.  Its second design partnership was the highly mediatic link-up with former Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz, named Happy Moments and featuring pop-colored and metallic loafers or moccasins – especially Tod’s signature gommino model.

According to Tod’s, Mame Kurogouchi's T Factory project will interpret “the world of Tod's women’s accessories and Ready-to-Wear with her take on craftsmanship and timeless elegance.”
 
Mame Kurogouchi was founded in Japan in 2010 by Maiko Kurogouchi, going on to win the Fashion Prize of Tokyo in 2017. She has also presented and showed her collections in Paris, winning consistently warm reviews. Critics have admired her brainy and unexpected mélange of beautiful printing techniques, offbeat yet elegant proportions and blend of ancient artisan with techy technical touches.
 
T Factory is effectively Tod's creative laboratory invented to harness unconventional projects with designers and artists from the world of luxury and creativity. They can tap into “the brand’s iconographic heritage, Italian artisanal excellence and know-how, which they translate based on their point of view in total freedom,” Tod’s said in a release.
 
T Factory’s initial collections were designed to retail in close to 100 stores, principally flagships, in the network of some 300 sales points where Tod’s retails.