words by HANNAH ATIRA

On Saturday night amongst New York City’s bustling Lower East Side, the usual draw of dive bars, and trendy restaurants took a backseat to the neighbourhood’s namesake concept store, Essx NYC. Finding itself as the evening’s centre of attention, the Essx store drew a crowd of New York fashion who’s who, to celebrate the unveiling of a new installation between the store and cult favourite brand Y/Project. In the truest sense of collaboration, the evening embodied a sense of reunion as old friends caught up, new friends were introduced and out-of-town friends made their timely New York appearances. As gin and ginger tonics poured and the sounds of DJ Kellen filled the space, the crowd of fashion favourites, industry insiders, and Essx loyalists all mingled while hoping to catch a moment with the man of the night himself, Glenn Martens.

Continuing to set its mark on the city as the latest brick-and-mortar hub for fashion, community, and concept, the collaboration with Y/Project demonstrates exactly how Essx seeks to bridge the gap. Taking over one of the store’s concept spaces, the installation served as a nod to the brand’s Parisian heritage. Setting the visual foundation for the space was an enclosure of draperies in a “bitter chocolate” brown hue, chosen intentionally to highlight the gothic architecture motif that inspired Y/Project’s SS24 collection. Covered by the draperies and lined at the bottom with a textured carpet, the store’s half-dome space was further transformed into a cozy experience, inviting the viewer to interact intimately with the pieces.

Emphasising the store’s goal to hold space for a reignition of the IRL fashion community, the collaboration with Y/Project ushers in a new era that has been a long time in the making for both teams. From speaking with Martens himself, it was apparent that the love affair between NYC and Y/Project has always been strong, “Before Covid, it was a bit over-saturated, it was a moment that we were like in New York thinking, okay, where can we be? And then of course the pandemic arrived and it was so horrible and we saw all these New York stores closing down.” In the search for a New York-based home for Y/Project’s collections, Essx opened at the perfect time for Martens and his team to solidify a union of these two loves, “Even still last year was I was here for pride for Diesel events And I saw three people in the street wearing Y/Project and was thought, where did they buy it? Then Essx finally opened in July and we were so happy when they reached out to pick this up, so I’m very happy to be back in New York.”

The Y/Project installation will be available to view at the Essx store through the end of May.

all photography OLIVER LEONE