Mood board: There’s something liberating about the lavish. There’s escapism in opulence. Glenn Martens took the creative helm of Y/Project in 2013. In recent seasons he has steered his label away from the confines of ultra-cool streetwear into something more magnificent, haute couture-inspired and dramatic. Young designers today are not to be defined by one passing trend. Looks are bold. Decades are mashed up. Silhouettes are tongue-in-cheek. Y/Project’s A/W 2019 collection includes dreamlike medieval dresses, 1980s denim hotpants, spliced and diced 1940s fur coats, and a final section of hilariously hyperbolic evening gowns. A Renaissance faux fur, faux leather pleated dress and a body swathing meringue-like ball gown.
Finishing touches: Y/Project’s gaiter-like boots have become an accessory signature. Only emphasised by the brand’s 2018 collaboration with Ugg on huge shearling-lined waders. For A/W 2019, these were imagined in leather, and had both a swashbuckling and equestrian élan.
Best in show: Building up a strong set of accessories is an essential for a blossoming brand. Often bags, shoes and jewellery are the commercial bread and butter of a fashion label. Y/Project’s hyperbolic catwalk jewellery is gaining momentum, and offers a deliciously ironic comment on how these pieces vye for attention on the runway. For A/W 2019, styles were huge. Shards of coloured glass or hammered metal twisting around the ear lobe, bold chokers formed from the figures of nude women, huge spirals of metal, dangling from the ear towards the décolletage.
Y/Project A/W 2019.
Y/Project A/W 2019.
Y/Project A/W 2019.
Y/Project A/W 2019.
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A new Oxford Street pop-up celebrates IKEA's blue bagsIKEA's iconic blue bag gets its own pop-up concept store, the 'Hus of Frakta'.
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Audemars Piguet and Kaws have created the Royal Oak Concept watch we didn't know we neededThe Audemars Piguet x Kaws Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Companion' is slick wrist-worn art
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A friendly rivalry coloured by kinship: Wendy Maruyama and Tom Loeser on their two-artist show'I wanted to make furniture, just not traditional furniture, but weird furniture,' says Wendy Maruyama on ‘Colorama’, a two-artist show presented at design gallery Superhouse (until 11 January 2025)
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Valentino’s theatrical new exhibition celebrates the house founder’s 90th birthdayAt Teatro Sociale di Voghera, a new exhibition marks seminal designer Valentino Garavani’s 90th birthday, collating pieces from his time at the helm with ‘Valentino red’ taking centre stage
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Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu MiuIn this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
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Valentino’s new Beijing exhibition explores the role of fashion‘Re-Signify Part Two’ juxtaposes items from the Valentino archive and the work of contemporary artists such as Cao Fei, Xu Zhen, and Nick Knight
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Scene-stealing runway sets from S/S 2022 womenswear showsFrom giant roulette wheels to Olympic diving boards and multi-city synchronized extravaganzas – our pick of the best fashion show sets from S/S 2022 womenswear
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Valentino Des Atelier Haute Couture sees fashion and art collideSeventeen contemporary artists enter a dynamic dialogue around dressing to create Valentino’s A/W 2021 Des Ateliers Haute Couture collection
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Milan Fashion Week A/W 2021: designers riff on romp and relaxationMilan Fashion Week offered a wardrobe for life after lockdown, by brands including Fendi, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino and Giorgio Armani
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Sweats and sequins: the duality of dressing at Milan Fashion Week S/S 2021Brands from Dolce & Gabbana to Valentino considered post pandemic dressing, with escapist and pragmatic silhouettes presented with aplomb
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A decade of fashion show history in picturesBritish photographer Jason Lloyd Evans shares his favourite backstage images, from the runway shows of Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Armani, Proenza Schouler, Versace and more
