GALLERY 909 Designer Scott Watts Uses the Human Form as a Canvas

GALLERY 909 is a rising contemporary label based in New York City. The 23-year-old designer of the brand, Scott Watts, places a strong emphasis on the human form for his designs instead of gravitating to seasonal trends. Minimalist in execution yet multifaceted in brand vision, Watts is on a longstanding mission to reinvent how we think of clothing.

The imprint recently unleashed its Pre Spring/Summer 2018 collection comprised of diverse garments such as graphic hoodies, short-sleeved button-downs, double panel shirts and cargo pants equipped with four-panel suturing. Select items from the warm season lineup are now available at HBX.

We recently sat down with Watts to discuss his motives behind GALLERY 909, his latest collection, as well as visual art elements.

What is the ethos of GALLERY 909?
GALLERY 909 was founded on community, it’s always been a group, a world, and never just about the individual. Taking multiple elements from different places and putting them together creates layers; the same way a great team consists of different personalities and experiences from different origins.

Describe the world where patrons of GALLERY 909 thrive.
The real world, but on a different wavelength.

Tell us about your latest collection.
It’s a progression in the story, spreading the design language out with more articles of clothing, more objects so everything is full circle.

What kind of visual art elements are you bringing into the brand?
Every season we release a book and a small film to go along with the collection. Last season we released a book and showed a short film we produced at Paris Fashion Week along with the debut of our collaboration with Converse.

We always set out to create a certain energy with the films and books, and the clothing is just an extension of that. We also like to continuously change settings, sometimes we are shooting in New York but are debuting in Paris sometimes we are shooting in London and we debut in New York it all varies but we like to keep the perspective changing. This season we are introducing more objects that will be available alongside the clothing.

What are your thoughts on the state of high fashion and streetwear today?
To each its own.

Intersection of fashion and art?
The human form.