We opened our archive to The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for their special exhibition Camp: Notes on Fashion. Three sets of our 44 TOYS and 45 MORE TOYS issues will be for sale exclusively in the special Camp Shop!
44 TOYS, in collaboration with Kidrobot, consists of ten humanoid characters created by designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Miuccia Prada, and Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton. Complete with mini accessories like cell phones, cameras, and martini glasses, this army of toys is one of the most highly sought-after Visionaire issues ever — grown adults behaved a lot like children in attempts to get their hands on a copy. For Kidrobot founder Paul Budnitz, the series defined a moment for his toy label, expanding beyond its strictly street fan base. “We were focused on working with graffiti artists and street artists, and Visionaire was a way for us to connect with designers, which was really fun," said Budnitz.
Following the runaway success of TOYS, Visionaire and Kidrobot followed up with 45 MORE TOYS, featuring ten more wildly clever and creative takes on the original toy shape, this time by designers like John Galliano, Helmut Lang, and Stefano Pilati for Yves Saint Laurent. “Everyone sort of nailed it,” says Kidrobot founder Paul Budnitz. “There was no one who didn’t create something totally unique and beautiful.” Not to mention highly covetable. Just like the original set, MORE TOYS sold briskly and became an instant collector’s item.