Marta Del Rio Lends Her Avant-Garde Eye to KitchenAid

This week, Del Rio is unveiling a stylish new project that’s been in the works with KitchenAid, the brand known for equipping kitchen lovers with all kinds of essentials. In partnership with Whirlpool’s in-house agency, WoW Studios, together they designed a capsule collection of seven one-of-a-kind designs inspired by KitchenAid’s most iconic products: the Artisan Stand Mixer and K400 Blender.

Both products are being released in a new Hibiscus shade, which KitchenAid has named its 2023 Color of the Year. (Past KitchenAid Colors of the Year have included Beetroot and Honey.) Hibiscus, a vivid fuschia shade with a matte finish, was chosen for its nod to the Hibiscus flower and the global resurgence of maximalism.

"We’ve been tracking the evolution of the color pink since 2017," said Brittni Pertijs, lead color, material & finish designer of KitchenAid. “Beginning with Millennial Pink and advancing to deeper hues as of late, pink is bringing boldness to life in its color and energy. We took that as the spark to create Hibiscus. Hibiscus is a color that draws us to something exciting.”

Del Rio’s collection, which will be presented on the eve of New York Fashion Week on February 9, features sculptural, strong and avant-garde (her signature) silhouettes and is rendered entirely in that Hibiscus colorway. It merges industrial and organic references with the distinct lines and curves of KitchenAid appliances.

“KitchenAid is a brand with an instantly recognizable design language, which made celebrating the new Hibiscus color a natural fit,” said Del Rio.

She also invited a group of New York’s emerging fashion vanguard to each create a full look inspired by Hibiscus as well as KitchenAid’s design language. The guest designers include Jackson Wiederhoeft, Tara Babylon, Tia Adeola, Bach Mai and Man Made Skins.

“It was a pleasure to be able to invite five New York-based fashion labels to expand this core collection,” Del Rio adds. “Each of their custom editions for this project showcases their design hallmarks and celebrates the KitchenAid Color of the Year, Hibiscus.”

STAND MIXER: ®/™ ©2023 KitchenAid. The design of the stand mixer is a trademark in the U.S. and elsewhere. All rights reserved.

BLENDER OR WHERE THERE IS NO MIXER: ®/™ ©2023 KitchenAid. All rights reserved.

Photography and direction: Thom Kerr
DP: Mylo Butler
Design and Styling: Marta Del Rio
Hair: John Novotny
Makeup: Ryan Burke
Nails: Juan Alvear
Set design: Bijan Souri
Models: Dom Robinson, Gloria Tang, Iman Sukalo, Nathaniel Brunner

Guest designers: Bach Mai, ManMadeSkins, Tara Babylon, Tia Adeola and Wiederhoeft

Assistant director: Daniel Hanson
Photo assistant: Aubrey Wipfli
Editor: Anthony DiMieri
Digitech: Matthew Ramos
Gaffer: Cole Frasher
Key grip: Jonathan Arevalo
1st assistant camera: Ginny Taglia
Hair assistant: Miss Kam
Makeup assistant: Aura Flores
Nails assistant: Vito Pelleccia
Styling assistants: Miguel Sanchez and Kristtian Chévere
Tailor: Christoforos Kotentos
Set design assistant: Adam Velarde
Creative services: Eric Vidmar
Food styling: Tom Karole
Creative production: Will Foster
Production coordinators: Elise Sullivan and Chelsea Wooten
Production assistants: Errinn Abrams and Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick

Editor in chief: Justin Moran
VP production: Katie Karole