Before the release of her new album, Matangi, M.I.A. has worked with Versace‘s Versus series in order to create a street wear collection based on her own ideas.

Versace’s Versus label collaborates with artists across the world to create collections that are heavily influenced by their guest designers. For M.I.A.’s collection, she chose to subvert the ideas of counterfeiting to her advantage. Of her designs, M.I.A. said:

“When I was contacted by Versace, it seemed a great idea to invert the circle. Versace’s designs have always been copied, now it’s Versace that copies the copies, so those that copy must copy the copies. So this will continue.”

Each design uses a typical Versace design feature, such as a medallion or a Medusa head, and takes elements from them, repeating them in a bold print across each garment. This echoes the designs of a number of renowned Versace counterfeit designs. Donatella Versace, the label’s chief designer, said that:

“I adore the energy of the street, so when M.I.A. proposed to expose the issue of counterfeit Versace pieces by creating a collaboration inspired by these items, I thought it was an incredible idea. The collection represents all that I love of the new Versus Versace: it’s fast, it’s noisy, it’s brazen and it blends the world of music with that of fashion. I can’t wait to see it worn.”

There will be 19 pieces within the collection, which is due to go on sale online and in selected stores on the 16th of October.

Via OkayPlayer.