Opening Ceremony is a fashion brand founded in 2002 by Carol Lim and Humberto Leon. The brand designs and creates its own products and also retails other emerging fashion labels,[1] being early retailers of Havaianas and Topshop,[2] and also Alexander Wang, Comme Des Garcons, Proenza Schouler and Rodarte.[2] The cofounders believed that a person willing to buy luxury goods would also be willing to buy cheap T-shirts, socks, and art pieces in the same retail space.
In January 2020, Opening Ceremony was acquired by New Guards Group, a subsidiary of Farfetch. In late 2023, Farfetch was itself acquired by the South Korean e-commerce company Coupang for $500 million.[3][4]
Carol Lim and Humberto Leon opened Opening Ceremony in downtown New York in 2002.[5]
The Tokyo store, located in Shibuya, was ranked by the American magazine Complex as the fourth-best store in the world in 2013. Opening Ceremony also operated a store in Los Angeles.[6]
In 2008, Chloë Sevigny designed a clothing line with Opening Ceremony, working closely with co-founder Humberto Leon. The collection sold at Barneys nationwide.[6] In 2009, Opening Ceremony collaborated with Spike Jonze on a collection tied to his film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, with jewelry provided by Pamela Love.[7] In 2010, Opening Ceremony collaborated with Maison Margiela on the French fashion house's first co-branded project, followed by a womenswear line for Margiela's MM6 label in 2011.[8] In 2017, Esprit and Opening Ceremony created a joint collection.[9] In 2018, Opening Ceremony partnered with Crosby Studios to produce a collection of tables, chairs, and furniture in monochromatic royal purple.[8][10]
Opening Ceremony often replaced traditional runway presentations with performance art. For the Spring 2015 collection, American actor Jonah Hill wrote the one-act play Lost Cotton.[13] In 2015, choreographer Justin Peck of the New York City Ballet directed the Spring 2016 show, in which models collapsed to the ground and rose again, performing in a garden setting.[14] The collection incorporated bonsai embroidery, African textiles, and Moorish-inspired silhouettes.[14]
For Fall 2017, Spike Jonze directed and Ryan Heffington choreographed "Changers," a dance piece about a romantic relationship, starring Lakeith Stanfield and Mia Wasikowska at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.[15][16]
In 2008, Chloë Sevigny modelled in and published a lookbook with Opening Ceremony, photographed by Mark Borthwick.[6][20]
For their February 2019 lookbook, Leon and Lim featured Asian-American figures including musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, chef Angela Dimayuga, and designer Anna Sui.[21]
In 2011, Lim and Leon became co-creative directors of Kenzo, owned by LVMH.[22]
In 2019, they announced they were stepping down after reacquiring all shares of Opening Ceremony from Berkshire Partners, which had held a minority stake. Their final Kenzo show was on June 23, 2019, for the Spring 2020 collection.[23]
On January 13, 2020, the company was acquired by New Guards Group, which owns Off-White and other streetwear brands. On January 14, Lim and Leon announced that all retail stores would close that year, citing rapid changes in consumer behaviour and shopping habits.[24][25]
Under New Guards Group, the brand continued releasing collections. Its Fall/Winter 2022 collection was its most recent confirmed release.[26] No new collections have been announced since.
