MadeMe by Erin Magee is widely known as the saucy downtown streetwear brand, capturing the hearts of girls like Lourdes Leon, Paloma Elsesser, and Princess Nokia. Now she’s launched handbags and partnered with an equally radical magazine on the campaign—an international meeting of the minds. The Trinity, a rounded shoulder bag that recalls ’90s Christian Dior shapes, makes its debut in photos in collaboration with Fruits, a street style magazine created in 1997 by photographer Shoichi Aoki that chronicled the wild and experimental looks of Japanese youth in Tokyo’s Harajuku district.

Photo: Courtesy of Shoichi Aoki

Photo: Courtesy of Shoichi Aoki

While the magazine shuttered in 2017, this campaign makes it feel as if Fruits were back in full swing. The images, made by Aoki and Magee, are truly a treat to the eyes. In one instance, a pregnant woman wears a crop top with a sheer dress tied into a skirt below her belly and two bags—one snakeskin and one classic black—at her hips. A young woman in a Sixers basketball jersey and high-waist red corduroy pants coolly poses with a silver bag on her arm. Another picture shows a toddler in a cerulean bonnet, popcorn top, and black-and-white checkered tights holding a fuchsia version. The small bags retail for $140, the medium size retails for $154, and the large retails for $180; all are available at MadeMe.com today.

The union between Magee and Aoki was effortless. Magee had traveled to Tokyo in September and wanted to shoot a campaign to channel the “quintessential ’90s cool-girl vibe.” Naturally, she thought of Fruits. A friend she worked with on a MadeMe and X-girl collaboration introduced her to Aoki, who already knew about Magee’s brand. The rest was history.

The campaign feels natural, as if plucked from an original edition of the magazine. The two brands have similar customers: international It girls with a strong sense of style. In an article about her brand’s relaunch from April 2022, Magee notes that she spotted MadeMe’s pieces on passersby in New York. “One was wearing our Converse—an emo coder girl—and then this other simply really cool girl,” she told Vogue. Similarly, in the Fruits-verse in Tokyo, where style is hyperindividualized, MadeMe’s bags feel like they have a place anywhere. Cool still reigns supreme.

Photo: Courtesy of Shoichi Aoki