Y/Project FW24 Trades a Runway Show for a Fame-Filled Lookbook
Celebrating 10 years at the brand, Glenn Martens dressed Y/Project’s notable fans, including Ye, Charli XCX and Tyga, in his latest subversive fashions.
While Glenn Martens was occupied leading Diesel’s spectacle-making Milan Fashion Week show, the designer’s French label, Y/Project, announced that it would no longer go forward with its Paris show the following week. “Very honestly, we had a cash flow issue,” Martens told Vogue of the decision. “We did the commercial showroom during men’s week [in January], and we actually did grow. But at a certain point, you have to make a choice. It’s €450,000 EUR for a show, or €450,000 EUR for pre-payment for production and making sure the collection is on time on the sales floor.”
In lieu of a runway, Y/Project opted to debut its Fall/Winter 2024 collection with a lookbook — and it appears some of the budget may have gone to its fame-filled cast. Models Irina Shayk, Kim Peers and Natasha Poly; editors Camille B Waddington, Haley Wollens, Olivier Zham and Mel Ottenberg; artists Charli XCX, Tyga and Ye (formerly Kanye West) traded in their front-row seats for starring roles in the Arnaud Lajeunie-shot images.
The collection marks a celebration of Martens’ decade at the brand’s helm, building on the lead visionary’s adored codes: distorted denim, subverted formalwear, stiff drapery and inventive footwear. Among the standout looks, fashion consultant and stylist Ursina Gysi wears a duvet-like overcoat and a wrapped denim top, which playfully connects to a pair of trousers in an identical textile. Xuly Bet founder Lamine Badian Kouyaté sports a tinsel-tinged top and deconstructed black jeans, under a trench coat that’s half monotone and half flannel. Charli’s look includes a sculptural, fur-laden leather coat, a checkered button-up and wide-set denim pants, finished with a sheer hood, while Tyga’s ensemble counts a reptilian jacket, falling trousers and otherwordly blue mules.
Models like Christopher Simmonds and Aurélie Luong debuted a Salomon Speedcross 3 collaboration, which adopts a scrunched construction in grey and black colorways. The sneakers are paired with lumberjack-style shirts and avant-garde puffer tops alike. Ye, in look 26, sports two insulated coats, with incognito black trousers and shoes. Elsewhere, argyle sweaters and striped button-downs find equlibrium with multi-toned fur coats, trompe l’oeil dresses and thigh-high denim and leather boots.
Many of Martens’ creations are easy to envision on the red carpet, thanks, in part, to their famous wearers. Others are destined to casually cascade down the streets of the world’s more fashionable cities. In Y/Project’s universe, Martens designs for the fearless style arbiter, imagining everyday wares and fantasy pieces that never lack high-octane drama.
See Y/Project’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection in the gallery above.
