Aitor Throup is officially back, and he is doing things entirely on his own terms. Long celebrated for his fiercely independent and structurally innovative approach to menswear, the visionary designer is launching his first ready-to-wear label, AITOR ULTRA. Rather than simply dropping a new collection, Throup is introducing an entirely new model of engagement meant to fill what he calls the “void of meaning” in the current menswea3r landscape. In an exclusive sit-down with Hypebeast, Throup revealed that the brand is designed to challenge traditional industry frameworks by inviting the audience to experience not just the final garments, but the intense conceptual process that brings them to life.

For Throup, AITOR ULTRA is the culmination of a lifelong search for the perfect creative ecosystem. The seeds for this new venture were planted a decade ago following his final New Object Research collection, eventually morphing from a project titled ANATOMYLAND into a hyper-focused fashion framework that synthesizes his entire 20-year practice. Known for his obsessive focus on the human anatomy, Throup is bringing foundational elements of his past work—like masks, veils, grown-on trouser feet, and sleeves that extend into gloves—into this new era, while introducing entirely new modular anatomies where garments can be worn and stowed in transformative ways.

Translating these highly conceptual, studio-built pieces into a scalable ready-to-wear brand is no small feat. However, applying the critical lessons in scalability he learned during his tenure as Executive Creative Director at G-Star RAW, Throup has spent the last decade refining ways to retain his sublime level of product language without compromising mass production. He is also shedding old constraints; notably, he recently ended his legendary 14-year daily drawing practice, The Daily Sketchbook Archives, to give himself the space to express his vision unapologetically and freely.

To properly introduce this new universe, Throup is pulling back the curtain with an expansive inaugural exhibition. Presented in collaboration with the Westminster Menswear Archive, the presentation will be staged at Ambika P3 in London. Opening to the public on October 23, the exhibition will offer an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s developmental framework. Attendees will be able to view early garment prototypes alongside newly developed sculptural forms and expressive drawings—each available to purchase as unique, one-of-one procedural artifacts long before the first clothing collection hits racks in 2027.

Hypebeast: After 20 years of boundary-pushing menswear design, what specific realization drove you to launch this entirely new brand right now?

Aitor Throup: The turning point was exactly 10 years ago, when I presented the last New Object Research collection on life-size puppets. It was the first attempt to break free from the rigid conceptual constraints that I had placed on my creative practice in the first 10 years. The experiment led me to develop a new project titled ANATOMYLAND, which was originally intended to become my first Ready-to-Wear brand, but changed course in 2020 due to Covid. The project organically grew into something beyond fashion which is still very much in development. The unexpected shift made me realise that I needed to take the clothing and product developments from Anatomyland and allow them to evolve into a much more focused “fashion-specific” framework, that also incorporated and synthesised the whole 20 years of my practice so far – that is exactly what AITOR ULTRA is.

I feel an organic urge to build newness from my established “ingredients” (archetypal garments, features and details) that have naturally evolved into a sort of aesthetic system. I’m finally excited about becoming a fashion designer, after years of rejecting the components and framework I needed to do so. Also, throughout my years of experimentations and presentations in and around the fashion industry I never felt fully connected with it. The rigid systems and formats always felt boring to me. It felt like my propositions were too directional to be fully adopted… The air around fashion feels different now in my opinion. It feels like the old system inevitably collapsed. It feels like people are demanding to explore new possibilities.

How has your signature approach to anatomy and movement evolved to shape the foundational pieces of your new project?

The starting point for me has always been the same — I have an interest in solving the problem of creating three dimensional structures that are informed by the anatomy of the human body. At one point it became clear to me that this fascination overlaps with my intention to build products that equally posses their own anatomy. I’m interested in building objects that reflect our humanity – not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually. That might sound pretentious but it’s actually very pragmatic. I believe that the most timeless and valuable creations are ones that truly reflect us – the ones that make us ‘feel’ something, either consciously or subconsciously. On a surface level, this means that anatomical features have always present in my work: from masks and veils, to grown-on trouser feet and sleeves extending into gloves; and of course these components form foundational aspects of AITOR ULTRA. But there are also completely new ultra-anatomical design features: for instance garments can be worn and stowed in different ways that organically create all together NEW modular anatomies. There is a sense of the work having its own identity, its own sense of expression. The pieces feel transformative whilst feeling strangely familiar.

What lessons in scalability from your time as Executive Creative Director at G-Star RAW are you directly applying to this new label?

I approach any project the same way – whether It’s a tenure as a Creative Director or a small collaboration. I feel the same sense of responsibility to on one hand distill and clearly express the unique nature of the brand / company / artist that I’m working with; whilst on the other hand executing the output in a way that is aspirational AND accessible within the means of the entity. The challenge I position for myself very clearly is to avoid creative compromises in the process of achieving these goals. It tends to be that the larger and more established an organisation, the more difficult it is for them to challenge conventions. However, I must say that I have been very lucky to work with so many brands that are interested in redefining what is possible – both in terms of output AND process.

I am very interested in the technical processes behind garments – I’m interested in how we use specific machines to make specific things. When I was developing the original New Object Research collection, I was simply interested in timeless beauty. The processes we invented in my studio were deeply poetic but couldn’t be recreated by any factory. The vast majority of the past 10 years has been spent on exploring ways in which we can retain that sublime level of product language without compromising scalability.

With your new brand, what specific void in the current menswear landscape are you actively trying to fill?

The void of meaning. In my opinion a good brand is like a good action movie… You want to see the movie because of the action; but you want to care about it when it happens. You want the action to build up organically, and you want to care about the protagonists when they’re in danger. A good movie ensures that the focus is on the context around the action, as opposed to the action itself. Similarly, we care about great brands because they immerse us in their story, as opposed to their product. The product becomes a mere symptom of the brand’s reason. Of course, I’ve been deeply focused on developing and refining my product to reach its potential, but one of the things that took me the longest to figure out was how to build a brand that even though is obsessive about product, is equally obsessive about the reason, concept and philosophy behind the product.

I have decided that AITOR ULTRA must be first and foremost about these procedural and conceptual components. I want to prioritise telling the story, BEFORE the product is available, so that by the time the ready-to-wear lands, anybody interested has already developed a personal connection with it. It’s like going to see a great movie adaptation of your favourite book… you already feel a sense of authority and connection in the experience. It’s empowering. That’s why we’re ‘pre-launching’ the brand in October (at Ambika P3 in London, in partnership with the Westminster Menswear Archive). At this important exhibition I will present the core ethos of the project and the unique developmental story of the past 10 years, through sculptures, garment prototypes and drawings; all of which will be available to buy as procedural artefacts of the brand before it becomes a brand… All happening while the samples of the first collection are being finalised to be presented a few months later. It’s a shift in how we can consume the stories behind products; by making the process itself a part of the product proposition.

Has your notoriously meticulous sketching and prototyping process shifted as you build this new identity from the ground up?

That’s an interesting question. AITOR ULTRA is ultimately about me using my own experiences and my own sense of identity to express an unapologetic version of my vision. For years I felt like I was hiding behind my work, and I sort of lost myself in it. My drawings have always been the core foundational component of my not only my work, but my identity as a whole. In 2013 I released my New Object Research manifesto, which was a sort of containment of the logical and conceptual fundamentals of my practice. It felt instantly cathartic but also debilitating. I felt trapped by my own logic. The same year I started a daily drawing practice called The Daily Sketchbook Archives. My thinking was that I could overcome my Left-Brain’s rigid need for structure and logic by creating a platform which demanded the opposite: it allowed me to express myself freely – the drawings didn’t have to express anything consciously. However, the system itself demanded that I sustain it daily, which obviously was another form of oppression. I endured it for nearly 14 years, which still blows my mind to be honest. I stopped my daily sketches around 6 months ago.. and I’ve needed the time and space to re-calibrate my relationship to my drawings in a natural way. I now realise that all of that needed to happen for me to be able to express myself fully with AITOR ULTRA. It needs to feel like an exaggeration of my truth.

Having navigated both independent design and corporate creative direction, what does ultimate success look like for you with this new brand?

For me success looks like AITOR ULTRA meaning something special to people. I feel blessed to know first hand that my work has meant something to many people already – I feel a responsibility to create inspired work, in order to inspire others. I hope to create the tools to allow a sort of community to grow and evolve naturally out of this world that I’m building. I know that I can only take it so far… and that ultimately its path is dictated organically through cultural dynamics. That makes me very excited – I think that it’s the highest honour to create from a place of service : to the ideas, and to the consumer. We live in a consumerist society, and in one way or another we all find joy in consumption.

To me success looks like providing a unique, inspiring and meaningful way to consume equally unique, inspiring and meaningful products and experiences. I ultimately want the AITOR ULTRA world to remind people that we can reject conventions and norms if they separate us from our truth – and that in so doing we can create – and inhabit – new worlds.