Nigo used an abundance of embroidered varsity fashion in his first Kenzo collection.

Embroidery: The Comeback Fashion Trend For 2022 | GANT, Bode and ALD Show the Way AOC Fashion

Kenzo’s newly-appointed creative director, Nigo added a heavy-duty dose of nostalgic varsity style to his first presentation for Kenzo hosted at Galerie Vivienne in Paris. Nigo runs in a posse that is tight with Pharrell Williams and the late Virgil Abloh of Louis Vuitton Men’s.

Ignore what a particularly self-centered rapper tells you about how the beloved Virgil Abloh was appointed to the transformational role he assumed at LVMH [Said rapper says the position was first offered to him and has actually accused Bernard Arnault of going back on his word]. Factually-speaking, it was Nigo who introduced Abloh to Michael Burke of Louis Vuitton. and he also collaborated with the late designer twice on LV x NIGO capsule collections.

Nigo’s own urban clothing line is Bape [A Bathing Ape] and he is the DJ of the Japanese hip hop group Teriyaki Boyz.

Nigo’s choice of varsity jackets and other old-school styles in his debut collection for Kenzo are part of a much larger conversation at Anne of Carversville around the resurgence of embroidered fashion. As always, we combine fashion trends with larger political and lifestyle trends — and varsity style is center stage.

Varsity Style Rising

Now that hip-hop has subverted preppy into high-fashion, luxury street style, is it time to join forces with the Ivy League — in fashion and beyond?

This idea has been on my brain for months, since writing about the makeover of GANT by its owners, Geneva-based holding company Maus Frères SA

“I think prep has made a natural return,” GANT's Creative Director Christoffer Bastin explained to Vogue Scandinavia. Noting that Ivy League attire was very much a uniform, a favored look adopted by multi-hyphenate Pharrell Williams and the greater hip-hop community, Bastin concluded that “Balenciaga and Vetements came in with their streetwear influences and committed this mercy killing on prep.”

The AOC narrative goes in-depth on the topic of embroidered fashion and we concluded it with news of LVMH’s minority investor position in ALD, another varsity, old-school Queens, New York fashion brand. Not as polished as Kenzo, ALD has roots in a different immigrant experience and has a more working class vibe.