Y/PROJECT FALL 2023 RTW

Observing the Institut Français de la Mode show at Paris Fashion Week, it was evident from my front-row seat that Glenn Martens’s work at Y/Project is making a significant impact on aspiring designers. Martens’s signature ruched and twisted shapes, along with his draped sculptural pieces, have become the go-to trending ideas for students.

To manage to light up the more commercially oriented Diesel brand while running Y/Project simultaneously is impressive, and Martens deserves credit for his hard work and design abilities.

The latest Y/Project collection, Martens’s first on the women’s calendar since the pandemic, was presented at the close of Paris Fashion Week. The backstage concept was to reinvent techniques, construction, and experiment with fashion as much as possible, the foundation of the brand.

The collection’s major leitmotif was denim, and Martens cut the material into thin biomorphic shapes, shredded it, and used it as embroidery on everything from wool coats to clingy body-con dresses. There were also baggy jeans, boxy jean jackets, and even a faded denim caftan. The most exquisite pieces were a pair of tulle evening gowns, one in blush pink and the other in ivory, which were adorned with denim shapes. It was the most delicate collection ever to grace the Y/Project runway.

The Handel aria, “Lascia ch’io pianga,” from the opera “Rinaldo,” was played by 57 voices in the soundtrack to remind everyone that they were in this together. There were beautiful sexually suggestive graphics on a trio of looks. Martens’s body morph looks in collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier could not compare to the audaciousness of these designs.