Kipling celebrates 25 years

Last night accessories brand Kipling kicked off its 25th anniversary year with a celebratory party in London. As well as launching a milestone year for the Belgium brand it showcased its innovative ‘Play With Bags’ project featuring commissioned

artwork from the likes of Rankin and Spanish artist Javier Mariscal.

"We choose our eight focused countries and picked creative people we admire and connected with," explained Isabel Van Den Broeck, Marketing & Communications Director EMEA, Kipling. "People who we felt could surprise us with our iconic bag, with no restraints, just a deadline and we are very happy with the results."

The eight countries featured in the project are the UK, USA, Spain, Mexico, Germany, China, France, and their home country of Belgium - representing the key territories that the backpack brand features in.

The campaign ties in with the launch of the classics collection, re-editions of some of their famous vintage bags, which rolls out in stores from February 16, and will be supported by celebratory window displays, as well as an in-store installation within Selfridges.

"We've also launched a dedicated website, 25yearskipling.com to celebrate the whole year," continued Van Den Broeck. "It will feature our 25 ways to give back to the people - with promotions and contests - globally."

In previous years the backpack brand has collaborated with the likes of London Fashion Week designer Peter Pilotto, blogger Style Scrapbook, and most recently JC De Castelbajac.

"There will be no fashion collaborations for the anniversary year," said Van Den Broeck. "But in the future yes, and not just fashion, the collaboration has to make sense with a mutual respect and total openness. Collaborations are a great way to broaden our view on our products."

Founded in 1987, by three entrepreneurs Vincent Haverbeke, Xavier Kegels and Paul Van De Velde from Belgium, the company’s products are stocked in more than 67 countries, and last year one of its biggest growing markets was America.

"We are the only European backpack brand in Macy's and we're proud of that," added Van Den Broeck, who also noted that the brand still felt that it had a lot of opportunities for growth especially in the UK, US, France, Mexico and Brazilian markets. "We are the number 1 backpacking brand in Brazil where we have 35 stores."

The anniversary website is now live and features editorial on the 25 year history of the company, its crinkled nylon bags, as well as a its iconic monkey mascot.

Image: Rankin – Play With Bags