Smiley Celebrates 130 years of Lee Jeans with a Birthday Bash in Shanghai

The Smiley Company - August 2019

This year cult denim brand Lee Jeans celebrates it’s 130th Anniversary, and to honour the occasion, Lee Jeans have teamed up with long-time partner Smiley to launch a special capsule collection.

Lee Jeans x Smiley brings eye-catching, urban designs to the market in a cool, fun and fresh collection for denim enthusiasts. This 30 piece workwear themed collection pays homage to 130 years of Lee Jeans and is comprised of t-shirts, hoodies, jackets and overalls. It also features Lee’s signature denim and Smiley logo in ticking stripes and all-over typography print co-ords. Key highlights include colour blocking, utility styled shirts and iconic denim silhouettes. Embroidered details and denim patches adorn the collection on elbows and knees, along with printed logo t-shirts and the cheerful ‘Smileey Logo’ is a small subtle signature to finish off the pieces.

As part of the marketing festivities to support the launch, Lee Jeans hosted a ‘SMILeeY Smile Party’ at the Nude Cake Shop in Shanghai to launch the new season collaboration for Autumn/Winter 2019. The activation was held from 19th to 21st July, and included an exclusive event where some of China’s leading Kol’s were invited to put their creativity to the test in a birthday cake making influencer battle, as well as to get a sneak preview of the upcoming collection. The influencers in attendance were also joined by Nicolas Loufrani, CEO of Smiley and creator of the first digital emoticons for an exclusive interview and meet and greet. The events passed off in true Smiley style spreading happiness, positivity and fun to all those in attendance.

Speaking to press, Nicolas Loufrani commented “It's a great pleasure to continue our successful partnership with Lee Jeans and to help them celebrate 130 years history at the forefront of denim innovation, as we continue to collaborate with their teams globally on developing new products. This range is very important for us as we keep on demonstrating to our fashion partners the versatility of Smiley’s brand collaborations. As we continue to work hard with our partners to design products that feature trending applications and designs that resonate with today's trendsetters on a range of different textiles.”

The activation was supported by extensive event branding including the unique logo mash up for the collaboration ‘SMILeeY’, which was adorned on life size Smiley’s, balloons, vinyl’s and a huge birthday cake.

Launched in July, Lee x Smiley will be sure to bring plenty of smiles and happiness to fans of the previous collaborations and denim lovers worldwide. The line is available in China in store and soon to be online.