Y/Project RTW Spring 2019
It’s the elephant in the room a few seasons into an emerging label’s buzz surge. They’ve lured a cult, if perhaps fair-weather, following, after which the institutional industry came sniffing around. Maybe there’s been a small cash injection from an international fashion prize. Now what? Will it burn bright and fizzle out or long and steady?
It’s a particularly interesting question to apply to the Y/Projects of the world. Like many of his popular peers, Glenn Martens’ label has become a swift fascination on the Paris fashion scene with its cockeyed mash-up of references emanating from bourgeois convention, Nineties hip-hop and 18th-century royal courts. The appetite for bizarre, often “ugly” fashion has increased with astonishing voracity in the past couple of years, giving new credence to brands that not so long ago would have been relegated to a blip on the insular fringe radar at best. Still, what’s the attention span for jeans that come with a built-in F.U.P.A.?
Yet Martens surprises. His spring collection reinforced his signatures without succumbing to redundancy and introduced a sly uptick in commerciality. The silhouettes felt relatively cleaner, simplified but not simple. “It was very important to me to show construction because sometimes people get a bit lost in the styling we do,” Martens said backstage. “Often people are like, we [pile on] T-shirt, T-shirt, T-shirt and all these styling tricks, but I’m really proud of the constructed elements of the clothes.”
A slim, multicolored chevron striped slipdress opened the show, appearing completely classic, except upon closer look, the skirt had a legging built into it, a construction that repeated on cool, long denim skirts, too. A tight tank dress was composed of deconstructed white ribbed undershirts. Preppy tennis sweaters were refashioned into skirts, as if the V-neck had been tucked down around the hips. What looked like caped shirts tucked into tailored skirts were actually one piece. For the finale, Martens draped sculpted tulle feathers around the shoulders of a floral house dress, an argyle knit ensemble and a glamorous draped emerald silk gown.
Further indication of a more business-minded approach includes the introduction of handbags, including accordion-pleated attachés, done in collaboration with Linda Farrow.
Launch Gallery: Y/Project RTW Spring 2019
Related stories
Deborah Lyons Hosts First Presentation Aboard the Eurostar
Cindy Crawford and Charlotte Gainsbourg Wowed by Eiffel Tower Set
Faye Dunaway Discusses Being a Style Icon at Gucci Show
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
