Royals are Fly. Y/Project AW17

March 2, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marie Antoinette and today’s rappers – at a first glance, nothing in common. But if you look at their shared love for over-the-top fashion, you might get the point behind Glenn Martens‘ autumn-winter 2017 collection at Y/Project. Big fur coats; leather hoodies with shearling inserts; lace-trimmed sweatpants; ball skirts styled with rhinestone embellished gladiator sandals. A clash between royalty and streetwear? Martens would rather call it as finding the mid-point between those two bold universes. A desire for looking, hmm, fly (although I doubt Antoinette would be use this word for her style).

Men’s – Napoleon. Y/Project AW17

January 22, 2017January 22, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

What happens when hip-hop star’s clothes land in Napoleon I’s wardrobe? Or Henry VIII takes style tips from Kanye? Glenn Martens, the designer behind Y/Project, is here to envision those impossible scenarios. Fusing royalty with streetwear, the Belgian designer styled distorted denim jackets with aristocratic, scarlet velvet. Every high-profile rapper has his / her merch outside the concert, selling everything from t-shirts to scarves: Martens reinterpreted the latter, putting faces of famous royals on each of them. Also, the floor-sweeping corduroy coats will make any entrance grand.

What’s Hot (14.1.17)

January 14, 2017January 12, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Olympia Le-Tan skirt, Ann Demeulemeester necklace & Tom Ford lipstick.

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#2016 – Glenn Martens

December 14, 2016July 22, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

Y/Project is a prove that Paris looks forward to labels found by new-gen talents. Glenn Martens‘ vision blurs between the terms feminine and masculine, but also, reflect on the generations’ love for pastel-pink trashiness, Cher’s good, old looks and this neo-goth, neo-grunge mood (which appears repeatedly). But you can’t compare Glenn Martens’ label to the fashion collective Vetements – the philosophies of these two brands are totally different, just like the approach. At Y/Project, drama plays a role – bishop sleeves worn loosely with pencil skirts; sheer robes with ruff-like collars ooze with ethereal elegance, but with a modern-day twist. The list of must-haves keeps adding up, and curiosity of what’s to come at Y/Project is absorbing.

While others re-invent heritage, French brands or mess around with underground rave culture, Glenn is somewhere in between reviving Marie Antoinette dresses and developing a 21st century gear for cool women (and men). For spring/summer 2017, the designer nails denim pants, which are very much into elongated silhouettes. Velvet body-con piece or a pony-hair top subvert the term “elegance”, just like unconventional evening wear which focuses on exaggerated, sleeveless parachute dresses. The models wore layers of pearl necklaces, ironically contrasting with the so-in-demand street-wise hoodies. Following the anti-fashion maxim, the uglier the better, Glenn sent out a line of the most trashy mules and stilettos you have ever seen. “They’re from Chinatown,” he said backstage, without an attempt to conceal this fact. I doubt a modern-day princess would immerse herself in those cumbersome clothes – but a Parisian skate-girl, for sure.

Before Y/Project, Glenn had his own, namesake label. According to him, after few seasons he had a feeling he “slightly burned out”. Then in 2013, he came in as creative director of Y/Project, just after the death of the brand’s founder – Yohan Serfaty. Y/Project used to be all about darkness and leather (think Gareth Pugh and Rick Owens aesthetics). Martens’ revamp lead the brand to a new client, and a new image.

It seems that 2016 is the year, when we have all really discovered Glenn. I bet 2017 will be a bomb for the brand, too!

Your wardrobe needs… Y/Project t-shirt, Y/Project belt, Y/Project extended jeans & Y/Project tweed bustier dress.