Y/Project: ゲームチェンジングブランドを定義した10の瞬間

Today, the fashion world is in mourning: Y/Project is no more. The shock news came this morning as half the world was waking up, with the label sharing a heartfelt final message to trade pub WWD. “After 14 fruitful years, Y/Project has made the challenging decision to stop operations,” read the statement. “Y/Project and the team thank all partners and supporters for their unwavering dedication to the brand throughout the years.” The press release also reserved a “special thanks” to former creative director Glenn Martens, who stepped down in September 2024, as well as Pascal Conte-Jodra and the late Gilles Elalouf who founded the brand in 2010.

Together, those three men transformed Y/Project from a plucky upstart to industry influencer within a decade, with Martens taking the reins as creative director in 2013. To celebrate the life and legacy of a game-changing brand, we’re looking back at all the label’s most memorable moments – so grab your tissues and scroll through our list below.

By AW18, a thigh-high boot moment was already a Y/Project signature, and that season Martens decided to ramp things up even further. Collaborating with UGG for a second time, Martens tapped the SoCal footwear brand for supersize versions of their classic boots, and it was all anyone could talk about after his Paris Fashion Week show. “With Y/Project, we’re always very in your face. I think the UGG boot is such an iconic design, so for me, the whole challenge was: what do we do with that? How do we twist it?” Martens told fashion’s press after the show. And as well as the thigh-higher wader boots, the runway show also included triple-stacked and even stiletto versions. “Putting your foot into an UGG is like putting your foot in warm butter,” continued Martens, after the show. “So why not put your entire leg in it?”

For Martens and Y/Project, a pair of jeans is not just a pair of jeans, but a blank canvas full of endless possibilities. Along with eccentric asymmetry and voluminous proportions, Martens’ many adventures in denim have come to define the Y/Project look. Over the years, the designer has transformed the humble blue jean into cowboy boots, a pair of chaps, and undulating creations that defy categorisation. He’s put straps on them, taken chunks out of them, crinkled them up, stretched out the button flies, added belts, added poppers and much, much more – and that’s not even counting all the tops, dresses, skirts and shirts he’s made from denim, too.

As we’ve seen, Y/Project has unleashed a lot of avant-garde designs on the world over the years, but another particularly memorable one is arguably its simplest of all. Debuted at the SS23 menswear show in June 2022, a plain white tank appeared on the catwalk, seemingly suspended in mid-air, until a closer look revealed that it was actually held up by miniscule see-through straps. The invisible strap tank top turned out to be a sleeper hit, eventually going viral in late 2023, when TikTok creators showed off their fits with the piece, and even made tutorials on how to create your own.

Y/Project was known for being a close-knit, community-based studio from the beginning, and for AW17 that ethos stretched to the label’s campaign. Shot in a number of locations including New York, Paris, and the brand’s atelier, Martens eschewed models and instead cast friends, family and Y/Project interns in the images, shot by photographer Arnaud Lajeunie. “Y/Project celebrates individuality,” Martens said at the time. “The campaign is a reflection of our ideology. It’s all about individuals and moments.”

Without a doubt, the brand’s most impressive show, for AW22 Martens took over a cavernous postal depot on the outskirts of Paris, a DPD hangar that connects freight trains and delivery trucks bringing goods into the city. Not only was the expansive show space a visual treat, but it also provided more than enough room to split up guests per the social distancing rules of that time. To no one’s surprise, the show had a lot to offer: models took an unprecedented four minutes to walk the giant runway, cult designer Olivier Theyskens walked the show, we were introduced to the Y/Project x Jean Paul Gaultier collab, and the collection itself was a critical hit, featuring some of the brand’s best-loved designs, like the gradient knit jumpers with matching balaclavas.

Marten’s tenure was also marked by a number of brand link-ups that breathed new life into the tired old fashion collab. There was the JPG collection from the delivery hangar show, reworking Gaultier’s iconic trompe l’oeil prints from 1995; the SS22 Fila collab, which subverted sportswear to a fascinating degree; the AW21 Melissa vegan mules which quickly became every fashion girls favourite shoe; and the recent Salomon collab, which souped up the footwear brand’s iconic Speedcross 3.

For SS23, the brand introduced some hilarious middle finger jewellery that flipped off showgoers as they bobbed down the runway. Coming in gold and silver variations, the earrings were a hit on social media and were a part of the brand’s ongoing exploration of irony in the fashion space.

Speaking of naughty jewellery, the brand also dipped its toe into a spot of lesbianism for AW19. At first glance, models seemed to hit the Paris Fashion Week runway in chunky, enamel necklaces, but the outsize jewellery turned out to be wearable figurines of women engaged in scissoring. Gay rights!

When it comes to fashion, one Robyn Rihanna Fenty is always at the scene of the crime, and her continued support of the label over the years was one of our favourites to watch. Whether it was the full denim look she wore to CinemaCon in 2023, her 2018 brown suede Coachella look, or the numerous New York street style moments, Rih has always been a champion of the brand, and we’re going to miss seeing it on her.

Back in March last year, Martens presented Y/Project’s AW24 offering in lookbook format, but little did we know that it would be the brand’s final collection before shutting its doors today. It’s almost as if Martens knew it would be his last hurrah: celebrating his decade-long tenure at the brand, the lookbook included a bunch of familiar faces including Charli xcx, Mia Khalifa, Irina Shayk, Natasha Poly, Tyga, Interview editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg, photographer Georgia Pendlebury, and stylist Haley Wollens.

Today, the fashion world is in mourning: Y/Project is no more. The shock news came this morning as half the world was waking up, with the label sharing a heartfelt final message to trade pub WWD. “After 14 fruitful years, Y/Project has made the challenging decision to stop operations,” read the statement. “Y/Project and the team thank all partners and supporters for their unwavering dedication to the brand throughout the years.” The press release also reserved a “special thanks” to former creative director Glenn Martens, who stepped down in September 2024, as well as Pascal Conte-Jodra and the late Gilles Elalouf who founded the brand in 2010.

Together, those three men transformed Y/Project from a plucky upstart to industry influencer within a decade, with Martens taking the reins as creative director in 2013. To celebrate the life and legacy of a game-changing brand, we’re looking back at all the label’s most memorable moments – so grab your tissues and scroll through our list below.

By AW18, a thigh-high boot moment was already a Y/Project signature, and that season Martens decided to ramp things up even further. Collaborating with UGG for a second time, Martens tapped the SoCal footwear brand for supersize versions of their classic boots, and it was all anyone could talk about after his Paris Fashion Week show. “With Y/Project, we’re always very in your face. I think the UGG boot is such an iconic design, so for me, the whole challenge was: what do we do with that? How do we twist it?” Martens told fashion’s press after the show. And as well as the thigh-higher wader boots, the runway show also included triple-stacked and even stiletto versions. “Putting your foot into an UGG is like putting your foot in warm butter,” continued Martens, after the show. “So why not put your entire leg in it?”

For Martens and Y/Project, a pair of jeans is not just a pair of jeans, but a blank canvas full of endless possibilities. Along with eccentric asymmetry and voluminous proportions, Martens’ many adventures in denim have come to define the Y/Project look. Over the years, the designer has transformed the humble blue jean into cowboy boots, a pair of chaps, and undulating creations that defy categorisation. He’s put straps on them, taken chunks out of them, crinkled them up, stretched out the button flies, added belts, added poppers and much, much more – and that’s not even counting all the tops, dresses, skirts and shirts he’s made from denim, too.

As we’ve seen, Y/Project has unleashed a lot of avant-garde designs on the world over the years, but another particularly memorable one is arguably its simplest of all. Debuted at the SS23 menswear show in June 2022, a plain white tank appeared on the catwalk, seemingly suspended in mid-air, until a closer look revealed that it was actually held up by miniscule see-through straps. The invisible strap tank top turned out to be a sleeper hit, eventually going viral in late 2023, when TikTok creators showed off their fits with the piece, and even made tutorials on how to create your own.

Y/Project was known for being a close-knit, community-based studio from the beginning, and for AW17 that ethos stretched to the label’s campaign. Shot in a number of locations including New York, Paris, and the brand’s atelier, Martens eschewed models and instead cast friends, family and Y/Project interns in the images, shot by photographer Arnaud Lajeunie. “Y/Project celebrates individuality,” Martens said at the time. “The campaign is a reflection of our ideology. It’s all about individuals and moments.”

Without a doubt, the brand’s most impressive show, for AW22 Martens took over a cavernous postal depot on the outskirts of Paris, a DPD hangar that connects freight trains and delivery trucks bringing goods into the city. Not only was the expansive show space a visual treat, but it also provided more than enough room to split up guests per the social distancing rules of that time. To no one’s surprise, the show had a lot to offer: models took an unprecedented four minutes to walk the giant runway, cult designer Olivier Theyskens walked the show, we were introduced to the Y/Project x Jean Paul Gaultier collab, and the collection itself was a critical hit, featuring some of the brand’s best-loved designs, like the gradient knit jumpers with matching balaclavas.

Marten’s tenure was also marked by a number of brand link-ups that breathed new life into the tired old fashion collab. There was the JPG collection from the delivery hangar show, reworking Gaultier’s iconic trompe l’oeil prints from 1995; the SS22 Fila collab, which subverted sportswear to a fascinating degree; the AW21 Melissa vegan mules which quickly became every fashion girls favourite shoe; and the recent Salomon collab, which souped up the footwear brand’s iconic Speedcross 3.

For SS23, the brand introduced some hilarious middle finger jewellery that flipped off showgoers as they bobbed down the runway. Coming in gold and silver variations, the earrings were a hit on social media and were a part of the brand’s ongoing exploration of irony in the fashion space.

Speaking of naughty jewellery, the brand also dipped its toe into a spot of lesbianism for AW19. At first glance, models seemed to hit the Paris Fashion Week runway in chunky, enamel necklaces, but the outsize jewellery turned out to be wearable figurines of women engaged in scissoring. Gay rights!

When it comes to fashion, one Robyn Rihanna Fenty is always at the scene of the crime, and her continued support of the label over the years was one of our favourites to watch. Whether it was the full denim look she wore to CinemaCon in 2023, her 2018 brown suede Coachella look, or the numerous New York street style moments, Rih has always been a champion of the brand, and we’re going to miss seeing it on her.

Back in March last year, Martens presented Y/Project’s AW24 offering in lookbook format, but little did we know that it would be the brand’s final collection before shutting its doors today. It’s almost as if Martens knew it would be his last hurrah: celebrating his decade-long tenure at the brand, the lookbook included a bunch of familiar faces including Charli xcx, Mia Khalifa, Irina Shayk, Natasha Poly, Tyga, Interview editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg, photographer Georgia Pendlebury, and stylist Haley Wollens.