While checking our ticket request for Paris in Milan, did Y/Project disappear from the calendar? No, the brand decided to cancel the Y/Project FW24 runway show, which has now gone viral for its strategic move. They dropped a celebrity-packed lookbook.
Y/Project FW24 Canceled the Runway Show for a Celeb-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. The visionary collection launches nearly one year after Pascal Conte-Jodra stepped in as appointed CEO. Also in the lookbook are Charli XCX, Irina Shayk, Frédérique Hazout, Glenn’s father Matthias Martens, and more, all powerfully modeling the structured pieces. In the new FW24 collection are voluminous jeans, oversized autumn coats, plaid flannels, and deconstructed pieces that are both city- and runway-ready.
“Under Glenn Martens’ influential vision, the brand effortlessly resonates with the global Generation Z audience, propelling us to the forefront of fashion’s evolution, Conte-Jodra said in a statement, per FashionUnited. “I look forward to taking Y/Project to new heights, where innovation, passion and a commitment to authenticity will define our path to success.”
While Glenn Martens was entertained as the Creative Director of Diesel’s Milan Fashion Week show, he made a tough decision. The designer’s French label, Y/Project, announced it would no longer go forward with its Paris show the following week. Many of us can relate and notice a shift in fashion this season; budgets have been cut.
“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 grew. But at a certain point, you have to make a choice. It’s EUR 450,000 for a show, or EUR 450,000 for pre-payment for production and ensuring the collection is on time on the sales floor.”
Rather than 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, AKA Mr. Kanye West. Traded in their front-row seats for starring roles in the Arnaud Lajeunie-shot images.
The collection marks a revelry 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. At the same time, 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 colourways. 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 equilibrium with multi-toned fur coats, trompe l’oeil dresses, thigh-high denim, and leather boots.
Many of Martens’ creations are easy to envision on the red carpet, thanks partly 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.
I love the collection and see it as the style of the future that I am willing to adapt. Has Marten started a new economic trend in fashion? What is your favourite look?
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Photo Credit: Y/Project
