After a rocky few months, avant-garde cult-favourite label Y/Project is closing down.
The Paris-based brand was founded by Yohan Serfaty and Gilles Elalouf in 2010. Glenn Martens was appointed as creative director in 2013 after Serfaty died of cancer. In June 2024, Elalouf also passed away following a long-term illness, and the ownership of the company was passed on to a family member. The brand’s CEO, Pascal Conte-Jodra, who joined in 2023, departed in July. Martens, who has also been leading Diesel as creative director since October 2020, stepped down from Y/Project in early September. Later that month, the brand was placed into receivership, and in October, it went up for sale.
With its closure, the brand said in a statement that it plans to donate archival looks to several institutions in honour of Elalouf, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Momu Fashion Museum in Antwerp, and Palais Galliera and Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
The brand achieved considerable critical acclaim during its 14-year run: it was named a finalist in the 2016 LVMH Prize and won the Andam Prize in 2017. The label was turning over almost €11 million in sales annually as of 2023, according to information published by receivership firm 2M&associés, which has been widely reported, and its Spring/Summer 2023 show was among the top 10 most-viewed shows on Vogue Runway, among the likes of Dior and Louis Vuitton. In 2024, Y/Project cancelled its February show amid reports it was struggling with cash flow. Despite that, sales are only one part of the picture — especially for a small brand with significant wholesale exposure. (Y/Project did not respond to requests for comment on its finances.)
It’s perhaps not a surprise that it was hard to find a buyer without Martens, who was arguably the brand’s greatest asset.
“Glenn Martens is an exceptional creative director and leader. The design language he’s crafted over the years, along with the team he’s built, has been integral to the brand’s success and a true standout in this industry,” says journalist and consultant Christopher Morency, founder of brand strategy company Dot Dot Dot Partners. “He elevated Y/Project at a time when many emerging brands struggled to consistently surpass just a few million in annual revenue.”
“He definitely gave Y/Project a bigger spotlight. Glenn is one of those designers where you can look at his collections and immediately identify his designs,” adds creative consultant and social media strategist Tora Northman.
But there’s a risk when the creative director is so closely tied to a brand’s identity. “Glenn became almost synonymous with the brand’s aesthetic and some of its most iconic products,” says Morency. In fact, many casual fans thought Martens was the founder of Y/Project.
Aside from his departure, multiple factors played a role in the brand’s shuttering. “Unlike more established brands that have had multiple creative directors shaping their legacy over time, Y/Project didn’t have that luxury,” Morency continues. “Add to this the departure of its CEO, the tragic passing of one of the brand’s original founders, the broader slowdown in luxury, growing competition from large luxury groups with vast resources, and the loss of key wholesale partners — and you have a series of unfortunate events that most potential investors looking to salvage the brand would stay away from at this time. Without those crucial elements in place, it’s understandable why an investor might hesitate to start from scratch, leading to the brand’s eventual closure.”
Brands can safeguard themselves against the risk of a departure by diminishing the prominence of a ‘star designer’. Brands like Loewe and Louis Vuitton have found success in “giving the team visibility”, says Northman, by showing their workers in the atelier on social media or letting their design team walk the runway with the designer, for example. “The emphasis on the rest of the team and it being a group effort is really key,” she says.
But does every brand need to become a heritage brand that lasts long after the founders and original designer have departed? “It’s hard to say whether the brand would have seen the same success without Glenn, if anyone would have been able to come in and continue the same aesthetic and grow from the heritage, so at the end of the day it’s very sad it’s shutting down but maybe it’s for the better,” says Northman. In November, Scandi womenswear brand Saks Potts announced it would close down operations after founders Cathrine Saks and Barbara Potts decided they didn’t want to sell their brand and risk giving another party control over its legacy.
Some brands that close have a comeback of some sorts, says Northman, referencing Christopher Kane’s return in the form of a Self-Portrait residency. “I’m not seeing this to be the ultimate end of Y/Project. I’m sure there will be some sort of resurgence down the line,” she says.
The brand will be missed and remembered fondly by fans. “The clothes made a really fun impact, and the conversations online [appreciating Y/Project] make me excited about fashion in a way,” says Northman. “I don’t view Y/Project’s shutdown as a failure, as some media outlets might portray it,” adds Morency. “The brand was built with creativity at its core, achieved financial success and ultimately made the decision to close. There’s no shame in that.”
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