Opening Ceremony Arrives For AW21
If you’re a fan of youthful, forward-thinking designs, Opening Ceremony is certainly one to have on your radar. The versatile range coming to Aphrodite for AW21 fuses vibrant streetwear styles with more staple monochrome looks, so there will undoubtedly be something for you this autumn and winter at Aphrodite.
First meeting as students, Opening Ceremony founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon opened their first bricks and mortar store in 2002. Lim was inspired to establish her own fashion line Opening Ceremony whilst on a trip to Hong Kong. She said, “When you travel, you just go and discover. That’s what we wanted to bring back”. From there, each year Lim and Leon traveled to a different country, accumulating a mixture of brands that they found there, cherry-picking various aesthetics and cultural references to carry within their store.
Fast forward decades later and you could say that quitting their jobs and putting their life savings at stake to pursue their dreams of opening a successful boutique paid off. The duo is the proud founders of a global fashion brand that was ranked 4th best fashion store in the world in 2013.
2020 marked a new chapter for Opening Ceremony, with the brand being acquired by the New Guards Group, a vaunted cartel that also owns Off-White, Palm Angels, Heron Preston, and more. New Guard Group’s factories are located in Italy and lean heavily on locally sourced fabrics, meaning the quality and standard of Opening Ceremony’s garments has only risen since the acquisition, while collections have remained relatively accessible and prices reasonable.
The Opening Ceremony AW21 collection was informed by the limitations of lockdown as they, like everyone, had to work with what they had during the lockdown. Both designers have young families and have been home-schooling their kids during the pandemic which further explains the more whimsical and playful aspects filtered into the capsule. Colourful graphics and tongue-in-cheek motifs can be seen across tees, sweatshirts, and jackets. Leon said of the designs: “It’s about embracing everything around you”.
It is a bit of a rare occurrence that a collection is inspired by something that everyone can relate to, however, the Opening Ceremony AW21 collection manages to do exactly that. Start off your Opening Ceremony collection and shop our range online and in-store now at Aphrodite.