While it’s tough to pinpoint the very first collaboration between Coca-Cola and a brand, Shinsuke Takizawa’s Neighborhood was one of Coke’s first noteworthy collaborators. In 2009 the beverage company and Japanese label linked up to create a capsule collection promoting Coke Zero. The small collection was considered, featuring a reimagined can, a tote bag, co-branded jeans, and a USB stick—then still a valuable trinket. While the Coke logo didn’t appear on the clothing, Neighborhood did riff on the Coke Zero slogan, incorporating “Real Taste” and “Zero Forever Forever Zero” into the designs. In retrospect, it may not be the most iconic collaboration involving Coke, but it did manage to both advertise Coke Zero to the Japanese market while still laying the foundation for future projects.

Another subversive Japanese label, Undercover, followed suit in 2010 with a second collaboration aimed at promoting Coke Zero—for Coca-Cola, there seemed to be a discernible strategy surrounding Japan and sugarless cola. As with the Neighborhood capsule, Undercover incorporated Coca-Cola verbiage into it’s traditional graphics, inverting their trademark slogan— “We Make Noise not Clothes”—to “Zero Makes Noise” as the catchphrase for a collection that included a T-shirt, jeans, a tote bag and an iPhone case, as well as a limited edition Undercover can. Most interestingly, it marked Undercover’s first-ever non-clothing collaboration. Jun Takahashi is fastidious in his approach, so his willingness to undertake the project serves as testament to the power of the Coke brand and its undeniable impact on pop culture, something Takahashi has always referenced with Undercover.

While the collaborations with Undercover and Neighborhood were relatively tame, each gave Coke cachet in the streetwear world. The two Japanese labels are among the most revered in the industry, and following projects with both Coke sought out partners open to less subdued branding. For Spring/Summer 2011, the beverage company introduced a series of collaborations available exclusively through Japanese e-commerce titan ZOZOTOWN. The collection featured recycled polyurethane T-shirts and contributions from Stüssy, LUKER by Neighborhood, BEAMS, atmos, Vanquish, XLARGE and United Arrows, among others. Unlike the previous Japanese collaborations, though, these T-shirts proudly and prominently featured retro-inspired Coca-Cola branding, making Coke the centerpiece of the collection.

Considering the success of the first collaboration, another series of ZOZOTOWN-exclusive collaborations followed suit in 2013, the most notable of which was another set of Stüssy T-shirts that blended the iconic branding of both the streetwear staple and the cola company: Coke slogans written in Stüssy’s recognizable font and laid on a red rectangle with a flowing white stripe.

Things really took off in Spring/Summer 2013, when Nigo’s then-nascent Human Made line partnered with BEAMS and Coca-Cola “to revisit Coke as fashion [and] to initiate people to be aware of that connection.” Like most Human Made garments, the collaborative Coke-branded pieces were inspired by vintage Americana workwear silhouettes and were designed to look like clothing that Coke employees—deliverymen or factory workers—would have actually worn.

The Human Made collection is one of the most unique as it was aimed at two distinct niche markets: passionate collectors of Coca-Cola memorabilia and fans of Human Made. The collaboration’s mainstream appeal was rather limited—compared to some of the collaborations that would follow—but undoubtedly succeeded in translating the magic of Coke’s history into clothing in a way that was authentic for both brands.

Nigo’s Human Made collection seemed to have sparked Coke’s imagination, with the beverage company then approaching vintage specialist DRxROMANELLI to refashion Coke workwear dating back to the ‘40s into a contemporary collection released at Opening Ceremony. While certainly less wearable than some of Coke’s other forays into street fashion, the DRxROMANELLI collections presented unique artwork that emphasized Coke’s aesthetic history.

By 2014, Coca-Cola had effectively aligned itself with the streetwear world, with a stable of impressive collaborations to point to. That the the beverage purveyor ended up working with A Bathing Ape is a testament to just how revered Coke became within the space. For Coke, this collaboration was especially noteworthy considering prior to the release BAPE had an on-going partnership with Pepsi for over a decade. But, with Coca-Cola, BAPE put forth a massive [collection in 2014](https://www.highsnobiety.com/2014/06/24/a-bathing-ape-x-coca-cola-capsule-collection/0—in 2016, the duo rekindled their partnership—comprising T-shirts, work shirts, trinkets, a Coke-inspired First Camo and a graphic that saw Nigo’s iconic ape with a Coke bottle in hand. The capsule typified how ingrained the Coca-Cola brand had become in the clothing space, particularly within high-end streetwear, but also illustrated just how much Coca-Cola was fetishized as an integral and undeniable pillar of global pop culture.

While it may seem that Coke has an exclusive relationship with streetwear, references to the brand have appeared on the runway as well. The first collaboration of note is no doubt with Marc Jacobs. In 2014, the designer–alongside others like Karl Lagerfeld—was asked to reimagine the iconic Coke bottle. Following his package redesign, Jacobs was clearly inspired and ended up integrating the brand’s logo work into his Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2014 Ready-to-Wear collection. More understated than his streetwear contemporaries, Jacobs’ created a sequined version of the beverage company’s red-and-white wave logo, albeit without the iconic Coke script.

2014 was a crucial year in Coca-Cola’s foray into fashion. Building off the success of the Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld-designed Coca-Cola Light cans, the beverage giant tapped Moschino for a trio of “fashionable” cans. Like Marc Jacobs, designer Jeremey Scott chose to include Coke branding the following season as part of Moschino's Spring/Summer 2015 collection. Like most of Scott's designs, the Moschino pieces were rather maximalist, though the designer refrained from using the Coke logo in the same fashion he used McDonald’s Golden Arches. Instead, Moschino presented Coke through a pop art lense, equating the beverage brand with a certain nostalgia for decades past. Really, that seems to be how most see Coke—typifying an idyllic America.

Ronnie Fieg’s KITH, arguably the most mainstream lable in streetwear, released a first collaboration with Coca-Cola in 2016, with a second chapter released Summer 2017 and a third set dropping earlier this season. The most notable detail of the KITH collaboration was the creative license that Coke gave the New York imprint, allowing Fieg and co. to play with the Coca-Cola logo in an unprecedented way, merging Coke logos from around the world with the brand name written out in different languages. KITH also created an unrivaled amount of Coke-branded product, simply due to the fact it has released three substantial collections; so, in quantitative terms, Coca-Cola x KITH is the most important collaboration yet.

By this point, there’s something of a theme within some Coke collaborations: the beverage company has desperately tried to leverage the clout of its banner beverage (classic Coke) to boost drinks like Coke Zero and Diet Coca-Cola. In 2016, adidas created a trio of Climacool 1 sneakers—black, silver and red—each a refference to a different Coke beverage. The red version was actually a reissue of an extremely limited 2002 collaborative release between the two brands that sold out almost immediately. The 2002 version, commemorating the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, naturally became one of the most sought after shoes in adidas’ archives, as well as among Coca-Cola collectors. The 2016 release, which coincided with the Euro Cup in France, was meant to leverage the success of a classic Coke product to the benefit of the brand’s derivative beverages—in other words, a classic Coke move.

Études, too, has integrated elements of Coca-Cola into past collections. The brand’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection saw the Coke can appear next to an ashtray in Dike Blair artwork used throughout the offering, while “Never Mind” was written in Coke’s iconic flowing typography in either red or in white on red.

While the runway references to Coke may be more subtle, Études’ use of the beverage company’s branding showcases the power and ubiquity of the Coca-Cola brand. Even when key elements of the branding are removed, the artwork still immediately brings Coke to mind.