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Glen Marten's playful new collection for Y/Project was revealed during a digital show at Paris Men's Fashion Week. |
Weary of dreary, apocalyptic collections reflecting the pandemic, Paris men’s fashion week was full of new ideas and energy despite the shows being digital. Parisian label Y/Project was one of the highlights, combining men’s and women’s wear into one playful collection. This Autumn/Winter 2021 season melded curving, intertwining designs that upend traditional silhouettes, writes Antonio Visconti. Photographs by Giovanni Giannoni
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Glen Marten's twists and entwines shirts and coats into new pieces |
The designer took the helm of Y/Project in 2013 and has brought his signature inventiveness to his collections, playing with proportions, materials and dress conventions. There is an athletic, unisex street style to his designs that give them a dynamic, urban appeal.
"The design ethos of Y/Project has always been about the blending and bending of historical references and pop culture, of past and present, of high and low," says Martens.
The autumn/winter 2021 collection was presented in a virtual runway show set to an opera and techno soundtrack. Directed by Grégoire Dyer, the models criss-crossed a shadowy warehouse space, the only adornment, pale-blue arrows taped to the floor.
Martens aim was to experiment with the way clothes are made, with twirling and twisting designs created by a metallic wire integrated into the textiles. This gave jackets, skirts, pants and dresses a completely different, Surrealist aesthetic.
Equestrian-print knitwear formed unusual shapes as the embedded wires formed abstract shapes. Different pieces were combined into one, including scrunched shirts and coats, hoods that became collars, parkas blending into dresses, collars melding with shoulder details.
"The design ethos of Y/Project has
always been about the blending and bending of historical references
and pop culture, of past and present, of high and low."
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Coats, jackets and skirts are deconstructed to create new silhouettes |
Pieces with double layers, such as shirts and shirt dresses have an extra buttoned layer of fabric that can be styled in whatever way the wearer chooses.
Martens wants people to be able to express their individuality and use the clothes to either be more formal or create more relaxed, deconstructed looks.
The multiple necklines transform classic designs into contemporary pieces, where coats, sweaters and tank tops appear to merge. Coat lapels are deconstructed and form diagonal details, crossing the body.
Martens core designs such as tulle leggings and panelled coats are still in the collection but there are new pieces including removable trompe l'oeil,denim chaps. Fluidity and voluminous forms are part of the label's DNA and there were ruffled shirts, dresses, and oversized scarves, coats and suits.
The colour palette included dashes of colour in bright magenta and pink mixed with neutral shades in cream, black, beige and grey. There were denim combinations in pastel blue with draped jackets and flowing trousers worn with cowboy boots. Amid the blocks of colour were printed shirts and scarves.
Martens wants people to be able to
express their individuality and use the clothes to either be more formal or create deconstructed, relaxed looks.
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Shoulder and sleeves become one in the new collection |
"We imagined extra-long waterproof overcoats and capes, covering up the body from head to toe, with drawstrings on both sides in order to create draped volumes reminiscent of opera curtains from the Belle Epoque."
For the new collection, the designer also created a fresh range of shoes, partnering with Melissa. "This was a nod to Victorian vases, profusely
adorned and embellished, merged with the popular British tradition of porcelain vases
shaped as miniature court shoes, distorting the idea of preciosity," Martens explained.
"This eco-friendly collaboration reflects
a girl’s dream to wear a crystal shoe but with all the comfort Melissa is renowned for.”