'The latest Parisian brand to land all over your Instagram feed is Y/Project, currently under the creative direction of Belgian genius Glenn Martens. You’ve seen his jeans before — the ones that detach at the panty-line. And you’ve either tagged a friend and lolled about them, or you’ve been putting $50 a week aside until you can buy them. And so you should.'
So, was assuming your role at Y/Project a difficult decision? With a team in mourning and an aesthetic that, as it turns out, is quite different to what you’re producing now…
'Yeah, it’s obviously super complicated to take over a brand in mourning. There’s really no good way of doing that when the whole team is in mourning and also the clients, so you try to do it in a sensitive way. I knew Yohan, because I worked for him years earlier — I used to be his assistant a long time ago — so for me, it was quite emotional. He was this two-metre tall, super skinny guy, very enigmatic, like a character from a Tim Burton movie. The customer really bought into him and his personality, so it was a miracle that [the company] survived after his death. '
Which is obviously why it felt so natural for you to shift the focus to womenswear?
'That’s something that directed us. When I came to Y/Project, we started womenswear even though it was actually menswear put together on a woman. It was very tricky because people were not understanding it so much when things were oversized or a little bit too long. We had to explain to our customer that this was our idea of womenswear, even though we don’t see menswear and womenswear as a different thing. For me, it’s more about clothes growing on the person and creating an identity because of the person who is wearing it. When the gender fluid hype arrived, we were very lucky because we didn’t have to explain it any more.'
You’re going on a first date, what do you hope they wear?
'I actually hope they don’t wear fashion brands. If they were trying to impress me with designer brands I would be a bit turned off.'
What do you believe in?
'I really believe in karma. You’re definitely going to get it back in your face if you’re being a bitch. I also believe in star signs — I think they really work. It’s so silly, but I’m now obsessed and researching it.'
Read the full interview by Hayley Morgan HERE