Monkey Business for Kipling

Fashion conscious travel accessories brand Kipling has teamed up with design team GIRLS FROM OMSK to breathe a new lease of life into their monkey mascot. The collaboration between the two Belgian labels follows the success of GIRLS FROM OMSK’S spring-summer 2009 collection, and features graphic prints and vivid colours for style savvy travel goods and apparel. GIRLS FROM OMSK for Kipling is a unique urban range for the rebellious, adventurous and style-loving girl.

The collection tells the story of the Kipling trademark monkey on the loose, but with a cheeky twist that is GIRLS FROM OMSK’S signature style. Many of the pieces (bags, t-shirts, hoodies and shorts) feature a bold prints depicting the Kilpling monkey at large on the streets of New York, but visualised in fluro green and purple. The monkey is obviously not in its natural environment, but according to Phillip Koeune (graphic designer and one half of GIRLS FROM OMSK) ‘he seems to enjoy it and even seems to take control of it!’

Other pieces include multi-toned bum bags, handbags and shoulder bags splashed with sharp squares of fluro pink against backgrounds of black and white, a patchwork explosion that is the forte of GIRLS FROM OMSK designer Valeria Siniouckhina. The pièce de résistance is a giant black hold-all featuring black patent triangles that makes you want to travel even when you have no where to go. GIRLS FROM OMSK for Kipling is definitely not for the faint of heart, as the loud prints and strong shapes are intended to beckon the brave and tenacious.