Who has KAWS collaborated with? KAWS (Brian Donnelly, born 1974) has partnered with Bounty Hunter, Original Fake, Supreme, Jordan Brand, UNIQLO, Dior, Comme des Garcons, Pharrell's Human Made, Medicom Toy, Sesame Street, the NBA, Vans, Timberland, and Sacai. Each collaboration sits on a measurable price tier, and gallery alignment with Perrotin, Honor Fraser, and Over the Influence underwrites the whole stack.
Why the KAWS collaboration list matters to collectors
KAWS is the rare contemporary artist whose secondary market spans $30 plush toys and $14.7 million paintings. That 2019 Sotheby's Hong Kong sale of The KAWS Album reset the institutional ceiling, but it is the collaboration ladder underneath that record that creates the volume Gauntlet Gallery has tracked across 160,000+ comparable sales since our founding in 2012.
Every collaboration on this list affects pricing on every other piece in a collector's holdings. Knowing the chronology — and the partner's distribution power — is the difference between paying retail and buying at fair market.
The complete KAWS collaboration timeline: 1999-2025
1999-2005: The Bounty Hunter era
The first KAWS vinyl figure was the Companion released through Tokyo streetwear label Bounty Hunter in 1999. Edition size was 500. Original Bounty Hunter Companions in clean condition now trade between $35,000 and $75,000 at auction. This is the foundational drop — every later release is priced in reference to it.
2006-2013: Original Fake — the Japan years
KAWS opened Original Fake in Tokyo's Aoyama district in 2006 in partnership with Medicom Toy. The store ran for seven years and produced the densest concentration of grail-tier figures in the catalogue: Dissected Companions, Chum, Accomplice, Pinocchio & Jiminy Cricket, and the original BFF runs. Original Fake provenance still commands a 20-40% premium over post-2013 releases of comparable scale.
2016-ongoing: UNIQLO UT — the mass-market on-ramp
The UNIQLO UT partnership beginning in 2016 introduced KAWS to a global audience at $19.90 per t-shirt. UNIQLO drops occasionally cause storefront riots and have become the entry point for new collectors. Most UT pieces hold modest secondary value ($40-$200), but specific collaborations — notably the Sesame Street UT capsule and the BFF plush — clear $400-$1,200.
2017: Jordan Brand Air Jordan 4
The KAWS x Air Jordan 4 in March 2017 retailed at $350 and now trades between $2,800 and $5,500 in deadstock condition. The black colorway is the higher tier. This release proved KAWS could move sneaker culture pricing the way Off-White and Travis Scott would later.
2019: Dior Men Summer 2019
Kim Jones's Dior Men Spring/Summer 2019 show in Paris featured a 30-foot pink BFF sculpture and produced the Dior x KAWS BE@RBRICK, the embroidered saddle bag, and the runway prints. This was the luxury validation moment. Dior x KAWS BE@RBRICK 1000% pieces trade at $18,000-$28,000.
Additional core partners
| Partner | Year(s) | Notable Release | Secondary Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme | 2009, 2011 | Chum tee, Box Logo skate deck set | $1,200-$8,500 |
| Comme des Garcons | 2008-2017 | CDG Holiday Companion, Pocket tees | $300-$3,500 |
| Human Made (Pharrell / NIGO) | 2017, 2021 | Vinyl figures, Bearbricks | $800-$4,000 |
| Medicom Toy | 1999-present | BE@RBRICK 100/400/1000% series | $200-$28,000 |
| Sesame Street | 2018 | UNIQLO UT capsule, plush set | $120-$1,200 |
| NBA | 2020 | All-Star Weekend Chicago capsule | $180-$650 |
| Vans | 2008, 2014 | Era and Old Skool collabs | $400-$1,800 |
| Timberland | 2010 | 6-inch boot, navy | $650-$1,400 |
| Sacai | 2021 | Apparel + accessories capsule | $280-$1,100 |
Japan: the geographic engine of the catalogue
Bounty Hunter, Medicom Toy, Original Fake, NIGO's Human Made, Sacai, and UNIQLO are all Japanese. The KAWS catalogue is structurally a Japanese collectible market with American authorship. That matters for authentication: most counterfeit production also originates from East Asia, and the original Japanese supply chain produced specific paper, packaging, and finish details that the fakes consistently miss.
Gallery representation: the credibility backbone
Galerie Perrotin (Paris, NYC, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul)
Emmanuel Perrotin has represented KAWS since the mid-2000s and brought him into the international contemporary fair circuit. Perrotin editions and gallery-released prints carry the strongest provenance signal in the secondary market.
Honor Fraser (Los Angeles)
Hosted the influential 2010 KAWS solo exhibition that helped cement his West Coast collector base.
Over the Influence (Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Paris)
An active KAWS secondary market dealer and exhibitor — frequently the source for Companion sculptures and signed editions outside the auction houses.
How collaborations affect KAWS market values
Three rules emerge from the Gauntlet Gallery comparable sales dataset:
- Limited editions in the 100-500 range have shown 5-20x retail appreciation potential over a 5-10 year horizon. The Bounty Hunter Companion, Dior BE@RBRICK, and Original Fake Dissected series anchor the high end of that range.
- Mass-market collaborations (UNIQLO, MoMA Design Store) compress per-unit value but expand the buyer pool, which lifts the floor on every limited piece. UNIQLO is the funnel; Original Fake is the destination.
- Gallery and museum provenance commands a 20-40% premium over identical pieces sold without paperwork. This is where authentication infrastructure becomes the entire margin.
Authentication: the only thing that protects the appreciation
Counterfeit production on KAWS figures and prints is among the highest of any living artist. At Gauntlet Gallery every KAWS piece ships with our OneCOA single-source certificate of authenticity paired with an embedded NFC chip tied to the artwork's permanent record. Tap a phone to the piece, the record opens — provenance, comparable sales, and chain of custody in one read.
For a deeper breakdown of grading, condition tiers, and pricing methodology, read our KAWS Collector Guide.
FAQ
Who is KAWS?
KAWS is the artist name of Brian Donnelly, born 1974 in Jersey City. He began as a graffiti artist altering bus shelter and phone booth ads in the 1990s before launching his vinyl figure practice with Bounty Hunter in 1999.
What is the most valuable KAWS work ever sold?
The KAWS Album, his 2005 acrylic on canvas riff on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, sold for $14.7 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong on April 1, 2019 — the auction record for the artist.
Are UNIQLO KAWS pieces worth collecting?
Most are not investment-grade, but specific UNIQLO drops — the Sesame Street capsule, the BFF plush, and select original Companion tees — have cleared $400-$1,200 on the secondary market. The mass-market collaborations also lift the floor for the limited editions.
How does Gauntlet Gallery authenticate KAWS pieces?
Every KAWS piece sold by Gauntlet Gallery carries a OneCOA single-source certificate with an embedded NFC chip linked to the artwork's permanent provenance record. We benchmark each listing against 160,000+ comparable sales catalogued since our founding in 2012.
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