Y/Project Is Officially Closing Down
After 14 years, the Paris-based brand is ceasing operations since it has failed to find a buyer.
Paris-based fashion house Y/Project is officially ceasing its operations. In a statement to WWD the company announced, “After 14 fruitful years, Y/Project has made the challenging decision to stop operations.” The news comes after the brand has failed to find a buyer since listing for sale last year. The brand was looking for a potential buyer following Glenn Martens departure as Y/Project’s creative director and the death of co-founder Gilles Elalouf.
Y/Project was founded by Gilles Elalouf and the late Yohan Serfaty. Following Gilles Elalouf’s death, the brand was placed into receivership by a Parisian commercial court. A Hong Kong-based asset management firm AA Investments was shown to be a potential suitor after offering a €45,000 EUR bid. The company had 24 employees and in 2023, it posted just under €11 million EUR in revenues.
Martens was Y/Project’s creative director since 2013 until his departure in September 2024. Under Martens’ creative leadership, the brand won critical acclaim, awarded with the ANDAM Grand Prize in 2017 and even even became one of the final brands for the 2016 LVMH Prize for Young Designers. Martens has been involved with Y/Project since it launched in 2010, working as Serfaty’s first assistant. After Serfaty’s untimely death in 2013, he took over as the creative director. Under Martens, the Belgian designer re-envisioned the brand that became known for its trompe l’oeil styling, exaggerated silhouettes including the thigh-high scrunched boots, collaborations and more. The company said in another statement expressing gratitude to all their partners and supporters, “Y/Project and the team thank all partners and supporters for their unwavering dedication to the brand throughout the years. Special thanks to Glenn Martens, Pascal Conte-Jodra, and the late Gilles Elalouf for giving their team the space to create and grow.”
Several of the brand’s archive looks will be donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Antwerp’s MoMu fashion museum, Palais Galliera, the fashion museum of Paris and the French capital’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs in honor of co-founder Gilles Elalouf. Y/Project is the latest brand to fall victim to the current slowdown in the luxury climate.
