Mood board: Following on from last season’s spectacular Pitti show in which Martens honed a rich, glitched opulence with his silhouettes, his S/S20 was staged in the church L’Oratoire du Louvre. It was set to the habanera rhythm of George Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’, cut with its Muppet Show parody. ‘There’s a bit of romance in the collection and as always we think about how seriously we are going to take ourselves,’ Martens said. ‘And we ended up with the most bombastic music and twisted it. I think Y/Project is always like that. It’s serious, but it’s fun.’
Best in show: Ski pants were ruched at the back; jumpers ruched like curtains. The strong tailoring from last season was here and twisted – elegant in its skewed silhouette. For S/S20, Martens has been exploring new ways of cutting. ‘We try to recreate all of the stereotypes you might find in a city like Paris, all of the different people who built the city so it goes from very classic suiting into whatever…’ Marten’s lavish constructions have a real kick. ‘For S/S 2020, everything is liquefied. The whole construction element is my main thing. I love pattern making. I always try to find a twist to make things different,’ he said. Jeans were hand-painted to reflect Polish wedding boxes. A wool bomber asymmetrically fastened, one side of a formal trouser and shirt was elongated – the collar stood up stiff, the waist band dipped at the hip.
Sound bite: Martens turned pieces inside out. His trench coats were loose and in two layers that moved independently. He said: ’There is no way to put them on properly. Everything hangs in whatever way; they stay on your body but lapels are opening or a collar is always undone. You can pull them up on your shoulders, or use the buttons differently.’ In Marten’s hands a pocket becomes a sleeve, a collar opens up and turns into a shoulder pad, a classic bomber jacket can be worn upside down. ‘We took the facing out of the jackets, which we pushed even more so they look a little bit like flowers, a bit more opulent. Enough to make it look royal, rich. I like that.’ This is for the individual; fashion for the fearless. §
