Y/PROJECT
SERRE (ABOVE) CREATED
A COLLECTION INSPIRED BY
A POST-CLIMATE CHANGE
WORLD, SUCH AS THIS LOOK
(RIGHT) THAT INCLUDES HER
CRESCENT-MOON PRINTGLENN MARTENS (ABOVE) AND
A TWEED COAT SPLICED WITH
FAKE FUR AND PAIRED WITH AN
ORIENTAL CARPET-STYLE
SCARF FOR HIS A/W19 Y/PROJECT
COLLECTION (LEFT)Fashion insiders line up for Marine Serre’s shows season
after season, while high-profile fans include Beyoncé
and Isabelle Huppert. Not bad for a 27-year-old from
rural Corrèze in south-west France, who, as a teenager,
had her ambitions set more on Roland Garros than
Avenue Montaigne.
Serre ended up studying fashion in Marseille and at
La Cambre in Brussels. From then on, her career soared.
Her first internship was at Alexander McQueen, just
after the designer’s death. Then there was Maison
Margiela, Dior (the Raf Simons era) and Balenciaga,
where Demna Gvasalia offered her a position that
finally allowed the young designer to pay the rent.
At the same time, her graduate collection was garnering
attention. Hip Paris concept store The Broken Arm
ordered her first few pieces, and her brand was born.
A year later, in 2017, Serre won the main LVMH award.
The secret of her success may lie in her reflective
nature. ‘In fashion, we produce way too much, but my
collections will look exactly the same if I make the effort
to use recycled or upcycled fabrics. So why not opt for
the most ethical path? It’s a no-brainer,’ she says (30 per
cent of her garments are made from recycled materials).
Serre is exercised by climate change – her A/W19
show imagined a post-apocalyptic Paris – and her
clothes have the energy of an urban warrior’s uniform.
No wonder cool kids all over the planet are sporting
her signature crescent-moon-print pieces.
marineserre.comMARINE SERRE
‘Growing up, I was obsessed with Paris so, for my tenth
birthday, my father brought me here. After that, my
obsession grew,’ says Belgian designer Glenn Martens,
who studied interior architecture at the Royal Academy
of Fine Arts in Antwerp (graduating first in his class).
‘I was then offered a job at Jean Paul Gaultier, which
meant I could afford life in Paris.’ That was in 2008.
A short stint at his own label preceded his appointment,
in 2013, as creative director for Y/Project. The brand
was founded by the late Yohan Serfaty, a committed
disciple of Rick Owens. Today, Y/Project is a very
different proposition (‘It took us about three years to
change everything,’ says Martens). That transformation
was built on Martens’ particular passions and biography.
‘My father is really into history; he would talk to me
about it as if telling a fairy tale,’ he says. ‘I guess it stuck.’
Historical references – from the Renaissance to the
Belle Époque – pepper his collections, although never
in a literal way. ‘It’s more about creating an atmosphere,
an emotion, then mixing it up with everyday life.’
He has no qualms about mixing sweatpants and pearls,
or Bizet’s Carmen and Shaggy’s Boombastic in a show
soundtrack. His offbeat style resonates with his
fanbase, and diversity is his speciality. ‘It’s what I love
about Paris. It’s a world capital, but also quite a small
city. You can have a cocktail at the Meurice and,
two hours later, be dancing at a rave in Aubervilliers.’
yproject.frMARINE SERRE
GLENN MARTENS
110 ∑
Intelligence