Hiroshi Fujiwara continues to bring his legendary design sensibilities to the Pokémon franchise with the 4th new collection of items in the collaborative THUNDERBOLT PROJECT by FRGMT & POKÉMON. This new collection focuses on the parent/child combination of Mew & Mewtwo, and in following that theme will be available in men’s & kids sizes for nearly every piece being released. Also keeping in the past themes for the series of Pokémon streetwear, the items will only be available for sale through ISETAN SHINJUKU from July 17th – 30th.
One of the things that stands out in this new collection is the use of a wider color palette than previous collections. White & black shirts with different color prints have been the trend in the collections released at Hypefest, Conbini, and Dover Street Market, so the addition of some blue, grey, & purple items is a nice little bit of diversity for the range.
In addition to the range of new hoodies, tees & hats the new collection is also dropping a full-size Mew plush as well as a mascot charm similar to the black colored Pikachu from previous releases. The major difference here is that the full-size plush will actually be for sale (although the availability will likely be very limited). Given how much the Pikachu plush & mascot charm are going for on the secondhand market it’s very likely that these are going to be the hot ticket item from this collection. The inclusion of a Mew car air freshener from Fujiwara’s retaW line of home goods is also a pretty nice touch, and I can see that becoming a collectible piece in its own right.
I think the focus on just 2 Pokémon this time around has resulted in some seriously solid design for this collection. Not that any of the previous collections have had any real misses in terms of design, but this new collection has a seriously high percentage of “must cop” items this time around. In our interview with Fujiwara late last year he had mentioned that it was a multiple-year collaboration and that he had plenty of Pokémon he wanted to play with, so this direction isn’t too surprising. Given that this range appears to be mostly exclusive to ISETAN SHINJUKU (the THUNDERBOLT PROJECT Instagram mentions that the plush is non-exclusive), it might be the first time I actually hope people will grab some to sell on the secondary market. It’s the first of the collections that I won’t be able to make my way out for myself and I would love to have some of these items, especially considering how frequent past released items appear in my wardrobe rotation.
The Mew & Mewtwo THUNDERBOLT PROJECT collection drops on July 17th at ISETAN SHINJUKU and will be available through July 30th or while supplies last.