There’s something about a well-executed collaboration between two great partners that just feels right. It’s like peanut butter and jelly or marshmallows and hot chocolate, the pairing is perfect. That’s likely the way that fans of Elton John and Palace felt when it was announced on March 7th that the two parties would officially be collaborating for the first time. The partnership delivered new apparel and accessories and even included a teaser video where Elton John goes through the collection, giving his stamp of approval to each piece from the collection. Even though the collaboration was officially released last week, the Palace Elton John P-iano T-shirt is significant enough that we’re featuring it as this week’s StockX Pick of the Week.
The roots for both collaborators grow deep in the same soil. Elton John was born in Pinner, a suburb of London, England, where he was raised and eventually launched his music career. Similarly, Palace was founded by a group of skaters who spent their time in the streets of England’s capital city. Elton John is, of course, one of the best-selling musical artists of all time and has been officially knighted by the Queen of England. For Palace, the history is less regally illustrious, but they are nonetheless the biggest streetwear brand from the country. Their official collaboration cements Palace’s status as the most significant streetwear brand in London, and signifies that their biggest partnerships may still lie ahead of them.
The Palace Elton John collaboration includes 16 new pieces, 14 of which were apparel items and 2 of which were accessories. The entire collection centered around Elton John’s performance of “The Bitch Is Back”, which took place at Dodger Stadium in 1975. The show was an iconic moment in the musical career of Elton John in which he donned a sparkle-covered Dodgers uniform and invited tennis superstar, Billie Jean King, onto the stage for his breathtaking performance in front of more than 50,000 people. (It should be noted that while both Elton John and Billie Jean King are considered gay icons, neither were public about their respective orientations at the time.)
Pieces from the Palace Elton John collection feature imagery of the artist performing at a P-shaped piano, which inspires the t-shirt’s P-iano name, in front of the crowd or posing in his Dodgers uniform for a photo. The Palace Elton John P-iano T-shirt depicts exactly this, showing the exuberant glam rocker giving fans the time of their lives. The back of the t-shirt features Elton John and Palace branding, as well as the location of each of the brand’s brick-and-mortar stores as if they were tour locations and dates, giving a sense that these pieces could be tour merch. The Palace Elton John P-iano T-shirt was made available in three different colors on Friday, March 11, 2022.
Released ahead of the apparel and accessories of the Palace Elton John collaboration was a playful video advertisement, recorded in the London streetwear brand’s grainy, homemade fashion. In the video, Sir Elton John walks through all of the pieces that have been released as a part of the collection, giving his comments on the moment in his career. Looking at the P-iano T-shirt, John remarks “An extraordinary time in my career, a very happy time in my life.” Throughout the rest of the video, Elton John comments on having his face on a skateboard, the expression on his face in another t-shirt, and refers to his performance at Dodgers Stadium as “absolutely gangbusters.” He closes the video out with one final statement, “The bitch is definitely back”, which likely refers to his recent return to the stage for his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” Tour, which was postponed due to the pandemic and lockdowns.
Buy and Sell the Palace Elton John P-iano T-shirt, as well as the rest of the collaboration, on StockX below.
