Dragon Ball Z | Primitive
Creative Direction | Design | GTM Strategy | License Partner Management

Primitive x Dragon Ball Z became a major turning point for the brand and played a key role in helping grow the apparel business from $9M to $42M. Years earlier, Primitive had released an unlicensed Dragon Ball-inspired skate deck and received a cease and desist, which made securing the official license an uphill battle. Coming off the success of the Rick and Morty capsule, the team pushed to acquire the rights properly and build a collection that treated the property with the scale and respect it deserved. The capsule mixed wovens, knits, and outerwear, with each piece designed around legendary characters from the series, including styles like a Cell-inspired jacket featuring a tonal allover Cell skin print. The collection became a runaway success across big box and core skate retailers, helping open the door to a new era of licensed collaborations for Primitive and contributing to the wave of anime-inspired streetwear collections that followed.