Fashion label Y/Project and its designer Glenn Martens hit the decks in Berlin on Friday night as the focus of a collaborative pop-up installation at concept store Oukan.
Three DJs from Berlin’s Mobilee records — Lee van Dowski, And.id, and Rodriguez Jr. — prepared music and quotes to coordinate with looks from Y/Project. For his part, Martens selected three outfits that represented a bit of the German capital’s pulsing nightlife, including fresh pieces presented in Paris two weeks ago, from his unisex-trending men’s wear collection, shown in Paris’ Gibus nightclub in June.
“It’s a very 2015 collaboration, it’s all [done] over the Internet,” laughed Martens, who had not met any of his collaborators before the event. He still hasn’t. In a twist of scheduling, none of the three DJs was on hand to spin or celebrate; they were all attending an electronic music conference in Amsterdam. But Mobilee’s Ranacat stepped in to provide beats for the assembled fashion and music crowd.
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Bruges-born, Paris-based Martens, who became creative director of Y/Project in 2013, noted that the presentation also functioned as a bit of a retrospective of his work since joining the brand, and the blend of youth culture and classic elegance he brought to it.
“The whole thing I really push in Y/Project is to make it versatile in a lot of ways, in wearability. You can change things, you can zip things off. You can remix it,” Martens said.
His designs, including high-waisted bleached jeans paired with leather-ribbed sweaters in red and yellow and grey delivered a spark of color amongst Oukan’s mostly crepuscular-toned assortment of Japanese and international avant-garde fashion. Also on display were images from Y/Project mood boards, and videos of recent shows and collections.
“We put people together,” said Oukan founder Huy Thong Tran Mai, who originated the collaboration with Martens, and has also masterminded an upcoming one between Berlin eyewear brand Vava and designer Rad Hourani — brands also present in Oukan.