Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing teams up with Johnnie Walker
Diageo's Johnnie Walker brand has enlisted the help of couture fashion designer Olivier Rousteing to create its Couture Expression series, with whiskies priced at US$22,000. The post Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing teams up with Johnnie Walker appeared first on The Drinks Business.
Diageo's Johnnie Walker brand has enlisted the help of Balmain fashion designer Olivier Rousteing to create its Couture Expression series, with whiskies priced at US$22,000.
Rousteing, who has been creative directory of fashion house Balmain since 2011, is the first cultural partner under the Scotch whisky brand's new Johnnie Walker Vault platform.
Johnnie Walker launched its Vault programme earlier this year. The global luxury platform gives high net worth customers access to the rarest casks in Johnnie Walker's collection.
Julie Bramham, managing director of Diageo Luxury Group, said: “Johnnie Walker Vault is allowing us to make our mark on the world of luxury spirits in an exciting new way, as well as opening the door to a new era of progress for the brand. Through colliding the blending artistry of Dr Emma Walker with the creative genius of Olivier Rousteing we are pushing the boundaries of what a luxury Scotch whisky can look, taste and feel like.”
The French fashion designer has co-created the Couture Expression with Johnnie Walker master blender Dr Emma Walker, developed to merge the world of haute couture with whisky making.
The inaugural release is the first of a two-part collaboration with Rousteing and includes a limited-edition collection featuring four blends inspired by the seasons.
Rousteing explained: “What started as a collaboration to create one special release became a creative exploration of four seasons, just like a couture collection."
He said: "For me, the seasons bring different energy and emotions - the feeling of rebirth in spring, the hazy freedom of summer, the self-reflection of fall and the coziness of home and family in winter - that Emma so beautifully captured in the collection.”
Each of the four blends features rare ghost whiskies from Brora and Port Dundas, both distilleries which are no longer in operation.
Over the course of 12 months, Walker then layered hand-selected whiskies from the Johnnie Walker Vault – a library of 500 rare, aged and ghost whiskies personally curated and rotated from over 10 million casks, to build the four whiskies in this collection.
Walker said of the collaboration: "We deliberately chose to use the same whiskies across several of the seasons, playing with proportions, textures and seasonal notes to create four distinct expressions of whiskies.”
Only 25 bottles of each season will be available worldwide, with one complete set available in Singapore. Each bottle, is priced at approximately US$20,000.
The whiskies' decanters have been created by French glass designer Baccarat and pay homage to the square bottle originally created by Alexander Walker in the late 1800s. The decanters have been draped in four metallic shades to signify the four seasons.
Rousteing said of the design: “I was really given the freedom to push boundaries with the bottle design, using the couture technique of drapé to capture the seasons in gold, silver, rose gold and metallic black. I wanted to create a structured armour reflecting strength and perseverance, but for it to be swathed like silk to bring softness and reveal the beautiful liquid inside. I hope these bottles will remain as pieces of art in the legacy of Johnnie Walker Vault."
Diageo will launch the Couture Expression globally from 26 May.
Rousteing, who has been creative directory of fashion house Balmain since 2011, is the first cultural partner under the Scotch whisky brand's new Johnnie Walker Vault platform.
Johnnie Walker launched its Vault programme earlier this year. The global luxury platform gives high net worth customers access to the rarest casks in Johnnie Walker's collection.
Julie Bramham, managing director of Diageo Luxury Group, said: “Johnnie Walker Vault is allowing us to make our mark on the world of luxury spirits in an exciting new way, as well as opening the door to a new era of progress for the brand. Through colliding the blending artistry of Dr Emma Walker with the creative genius of Olivier Rousteing we are pushing the boundaries of what a luxury Scotch whisky can look, taste and feel like.”
The French fashion designer has co-created the Couture Expression with Johnnie Walker master blender Dr Emma Walker, developed to merge the world of haute couture with whisky making.
The inaugural release is the first of a two-part collaboration with Rousteing and includes a limited-edition collection featuring four blends inspired by the seasons.
Rousteing explained: “What started as a collaboration to create one special release became a creative exploration of four seasons, just like a couture collection."
He said: "For me, the seasons bring different energy and emotions - the feeling of rebirth in spring, the hazy freedom of summer, the self-reflection of fall and the coziness of home and family in winter - that Emma so beautifully captured in the collection.”
Each of the four blends features rare ghost whiskies from Brora and Port Dundas, both distilleries which are no longer in operation.
Over the course of 12 months, Walker then layered hand-selected whiskies from the Johnnie Walker Vault – a library of 500 rare, aged and ghost whiskies personally curated and rotated from over 10 million casks, to build the four whiskies in this collection.
Walker said of the collaboration: "We deliberately chose to use the same whiskies across several of the seasons, playing with proportions, textures and seasonal notes to create four distinct expressions of whiskies.”
Only 25 bottles of each season will be available worldwide, with one complete set available in Singapore. Each bottle, is priced at approximately US$20,000.
The whiskies' decanters have been created by French glass designer Baccarat and pay homage to the square bottle originally created by Alexander Walker in the late 1800s. The decanters have been draped in four metallic shades to signify the four seasons.
Rousteing said of the design: “I was really given the freedom to push boundaries with the bottle design, using the couture technique of drapé to capture the seasons in gold, silver, rose gold and metallic black. I wanted to create a structured armour reflecting strength and perseverance, but for it to be swathed like silk to bring softness and reveal the beautiful liquid inside. I hope these bottles will remain as pieces of art in the legacy of Johnnie Walker Vault."
Diageo will launch the Couture Expression globally from 26 May. 
