We’re relaunching the “La 86” jacket alongside artist Mykki Blanco through an ode to change

Barcelona, February 2020. – To mark the occasion of the relaunch of one of Desigual’s most iconic jackets, originally created in Ibiza in 1986, Mykki Blanco reflects on the importance of constant change. The rapper, activist and poet opens up through a self-dialogue on change, art and the need to keep asking ourselves questions so we can continue evolving.

The legendary “La 86” is back

It began in 1986 in Ibiza, at one of our first stores, when a famous singer with an impressive moustache, who had reached the pinnacle of success at a concert in Wembley that very same year, became a fan of the island and fell in love with this jacket. He loved it so much that he bought 20 of them.

Thirty-four years and three months later, we’ve decided to relaunch it. And we’re doing it the same way we did in ‘86, by investing all our love and care into every detail – as if they were coming straight from a sewing machine in the back of that small store in Ibiza.

Because people, thoughts, places, things… everything is vulnerable to change. But some things stay the same throughout the years.

La 86 jacket
The same since 1986.

About Mykki Blanco

The word “change” acquires a whole new dimension when it comes from the lips of rapper, activist and poet Mykki Blanco. Because she has the power to change herself without leaving the stage. Mykki is a thousand things at once, but above all, she’s the voice of a generation.

Born in ‘86 in California, her teenage years were spent working on several artistic projects which intertwined poetry and hip hop to ultimately create the alter ego that we know today as Mykki Blanco, a true role model for the racialised queer community. “One of humanity’s plagues is to constantly feel unworthy, like you’re not enough. This is combatted through thinking, through action, through change,” she said in the content she wrote for Desigual.

In 2015, she announced she was HIV positive through a Facebook post titled: “fuck stigma”. To date, she’s the only artist in the music industry who has declared herself as such since the virus first appeared.

Since then, she’s launched three EPs, several mixtapes, and an eponymous album, with a second on the way. She’s also collaborated with the likes of Madonna, Charli XCX and Kanye West.

“La 86” is a combination of sweatshirt and denim, it’s oversized, made by hand from offcuts, and features Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

• Handmade at our Barcelona headquarters
• High collar made from the waistbands of old jeans
• Zip closure
• 2 pockets
• Mickey and Minnie Mouse illustrations
• Original 80s Desigual patch
• Customized label for this capsule
• Oversize
• Long sleeve

Inner materials: 100% COTTON
Outer materials: 100% COTTON

Mykki Blanco reflects

ACT I
About change
It may sound childish or naïve, but I don’t think you can ever dream too big. And I don’t think there’s anything in this world that can’t be changed just slightly for the better

ACT II
About questions
The world had made me feel uncomfortable with things that should be 100% true. I think it’s very important to question everything. Question the world around you. If something upsets you, you need to say so.

ACT III
About art
You don’t need to be an artist to create. Everyone has it inside them. It’s important to experiment. It’s important to change things. And I think that right now, at this moment in history, it’s inevitable.

About Desigual
We are Desigual and, since our birth in 1984, we have been 100% different and 100% ourselves. We dress people (not bodies), we know that a smile never goes out of fashion, mixing is our eternal trend, our obsession is colour, and the most important thing we know is that what makes you different… makes you unique. Love different.

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