Hypebeasts suffered a rude awakening this morning as the collaborative mill of their beloved skate brand took another shuddering turn. Elton John is the new face of Palace. Like a SoundCloud rapper but on Heart Radio, the musician has linked-up with the label on a 16-piece capsule collection due to launch on March 11. “The bitch is definitely back,” he declares in a promotional video, admitting that “I never thought I’d see my face on a skateboard.”
Hmmm. Sorry really does seem to be the hardest word? Technically speaking, Elton John’s first collaboration with (the) Palace came in 1997, when the musician delivered an evocative rendition of “Candle in the Wind” during Princess Diana’s funeral – but there’s now more than one old queen at the firm. Eschewing rhinestone platforms and novelty sunglasses for t-shirts and hoodies – boring! – the brand’s capsule collection spans velour tracksuits, woven rugs, sweaters, and a skate deck, all of which have been blasted with archival images from Elton John’s career.
It’s a little bit funny. Though pundits have begun to question whether Palace has exhausted all of its potential collaborators – racking up projects with Harrods, Juergen Teller, AMG, and Stella Artois in the past few months – this is surely the work of Elton John’s tireless management team, who have managed to secure the singer recent projects with Gucci, Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, and Rina Sawayama. All this is to say… he’s still standing... albeit with the help of four wheels.
Head over to Palace at 11am this Friday to get your hands on the collection.