DOUBLE DENIM: Cheap Monday has collaborated with Faustine Steinmetz on a limited edition and unisex capsule collection.
Carl Malmgren, Cheap Monday’s head denim designer, took note of how Steinmetz reworked denim, and decided to enlist the Paris-born, London-based designer.
“I was completely blown away by her take on the denim archetypes and the way that she works with really traditional looks, but takes denim to another place,” Malmgren told WWD.
“That’s kind of what Cheap Monday is about also, trying to be aggressive and finding news ways of doing it,” he said. “She has a history with the brand so she could connect and we shared a lot of mutual ideas.”
In an interview, Steinmetz recounted how she wore the label to concerts when she was younger. “I discovered the brand because of the music and I was in that scene,” Steinmetz said. “I would meet my friends on Fridays at 6:30, where there were concerts every week. We would all wear Cheap Monday, from head to toe, all the people on the scene, on stage, and that’s the connection I have with it. I was the 24-year old in the 17-year old scene.”
The eight-piece range fuses Cheap Monday’ rough streetwear aesthetic with Steinmetz’s handwoven artisanal treatments. Jackets, jeans, T-shirts and backpacks are made from organic cotton, textured merino wool felt and deconstructed fabrics.
Prices range from 72 pounds, or $101, for a printed T-shirt to 450 pounds, or $633, for a denim jacket. The range is available at Cheap Monday on Carnaby Street in London, Opening Ceremony and on the brand’s Web site.
The project inspired Steinmetz to move into men’s wear, which she is hoping to launch in August. “I’m already doing men’s products, except I’m doing them on women, so it’s just a matter of size and redefining a bit of it,” she said.
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