Kappa is extending its premium heritage offshoot Kappa Kontroll with the launch of its first female-only capsule, presented to the press ahead of market appointments. The line is under the direction of Sabrina Mandelli, women’s wear head designer at Off-White and creative director of personal label Ssheena.
This first women’s collection had a strong Nineties flavor, furthered by the pixelated floral designs and nods to vintage computers. Kappa’s Omini logo and vintage patches, including one that reads “final destination: archives,” were taken from the company’s archival department labels.
“Most of what we do comes from the archives, in the details and the shapes,” said Lorenzo Boglione, vice president of sales at Basic Net, which owns Kappa. “Kontroll itself comes from the history of Kappa, and actually inspired the brand’s naming. After the Second World War, the company — which later became known as Kappa — had a quality control issue and, in typical Fifties marketing fashion, decided to add the word “controlled” to their products in an effort to reassure customers, choosing German, and therefore kontrolliert, as a further sign of precision and quality assurance. After a while, people asked for the product with the K, pronounced kappa in Italian. When we wanted something to embrace the whole history of Kappa and its archives, it made sense to use that name.”
In the mix were jackets in performance sports fabrics, cropped sweatshirts, wide-leg track pants alongside more lifestyle proposals of printed stretch jersey bodysuits, pleated PVC skirts and matching capes. Accessories included Velcro-strap sandals, archery-inspired gloves and headbands with a bandana attachment left loose on one side.
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With prices ranging between 120 euros and 200 euros — up to around 400 euros for translucent PVC capes — the brand aims to sit on the contemporary and high-end sportswear floors of retailers.
The Kappa Kontroll campaign, to be released in conjunction with the launch in stores, features Los Angeles-based Ukrainian mixed-media artist Ganna Bogdan and former Reformation head designer Brianna Lance, now a creative consultant.