Y/Project's 21st Century Club Kids at Paris Fashion Week SS17

Amazing ruffles at Y/Project SS17

Y/Project in my opinion is definitely one of the coolest shows during fashion week, yet so far, it hasn't quite reached the same success as say, Vetements and Gosha Rubchinskiy has. I get it's still early days for the brand and that it is an underground label, I know it has a few stockists, yet I don't really ever see anyone wearing it. It's something I've been thinking about ever since the incredible menswear show back in June. Glenn Martens has definitely carved out his own aesthetic for the brand, it's youth-orientated which as everyone knows is an important factor within fashion, more so today than ever, plus it has a streetwear aesthetic that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon for, yet isn't forced or fake in the slightest. To to top it all off, was a 2016 LVMH finalist. Their style is very much kitsch glamour, low-brow styling, glitzy flourishes with the most amazing tongue-in-cheek design quirks. Y/Project isn't just streetwear, it's above that, it's far from dare I say it "sportswear" and it isn't just clothes, it's fashion. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love what Gosha and Demna and his team are doing, but there's something about the fact that Glenn Martens' Y/Project is still relatively under the radar, I want the brand to continue to grow, but I do hope it stays true to itself, because it's authentic. I hope it doesn't get spoiled by the industry.


Like many of the past seasons, garments came dissected and buttoned back up right from the get go, by way of a pair of oversized white jeans. This was only the second time that Glenn Martens had shown a womenswear collection on the runway, and I have to say, Y/Project is fast becoming a brand that I look forward to every season. What I particularly love about what Glenn Martens and co. are doing is that they're not just creating shock value, this collection especially wasn't styled in a way at all to shock, it was just really good fashion. Yes there was the denim knickers cut as the remains of the jeans fell below, mini tube dresses that barely covered a girl's... and boobs almost hanging out of a cowhide corset, but buyers shouldn't be afraid of this designers ambition to blur the lines between ladylike and lady of the night; they need only scan over each individual garment as separates and investigate into the fact that Glenn Martens' approach to construction isn't as exaggerated as one might first think. Not forgetting, almost every garments that Y/Project produce is almost entirely adjustable and modified, sleeves can be lengthened or shortened, as can the legs of trousers, remember the "detachable extended" buttoned-up jeans from a AW16, that were styled on the runway as if the fabric had been gathered at the knee? Garments can be cinched or left to fly open. Y/Project experiments, and although they're not making monumental strides in developing fashion that is never before seen, they are constantly pushing the boundaries of high-low fashion. Feminine sure, but with a twist, the cheap crushed velvet was seen throughout, off-the-shoulder tiered ball gowns were exceptional, especially the one in a sickly lime green and the gaudy shoes, whether the brocade mules or stilettos customised with diamanté crystals, "they're from Chinatown" Martens added. Now this is something which is really exciting.

Images courtesy of Dazed Digital and Vogue Runway

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