Known for their playfully avant-garde designs and memorable collaborations, the high-fashion brand Y/Project has built a loyal following for more than a decade and found some mainstream success.

However, in early January,  Y/Project announced via their Instagram page that the brand would be coming to an end.

“After 14 fruitful years, Y/Project has made the challenging decision to stop operations,” the post said.

In June of 2024 the brand’s co-founder, Gilles Elalouf, passed away at age 58. The company was placed into receivership following his death, and financial troubles followed for the Parisian brand.

In September, the brand’s creative director, Glenn Martens, announced that he would be stepping down from his position after 11 years to focus solely on his role as creative director at Diesel, the renowned Italian fashion brand known for its denim.

Weeks later, the brand was placed for sale for an undisclosed amount of money but failed to find a buyer.

News of the brand shutting down came as a massive shock to fashion enthusiasts worldwide.

“I’m so devastated,” said Erin Zhang, a stylist and online fashion influencer from Los Angeles. “It was definitely one of the first brands that caught my eye when I was first starting my fashion career since there’s so much abstraction and playfulness on a contemporary luxury level.”

Myles Hudson, a Nordstrom stylist and fashion enthusiast from Chicago, agreed.

“It was out of nowhere,” Hudson said.

Y/Project’s identity was focused on styling, specifically on how versatile a single garment can be. Their 2021 Spring-Summer collection show featured several 10-minute segments showcasing numerous ways all of their garments could be worn differently.

“There are very strong similarities between the menswear and womenswear collections (at Y/Project). It’s just styled in different ways,” Martens said in an interview with SHOWstudio.

Martens had spent his entire creative career at Y/Project until now. He was there as an assistant when late founder Yohan Serfaty began the brand in 2010. Since becoming creative director, he has gained recognition from other brands and like-minded creatives in the fashion industry as one of the best in his position. He has collaborated with other well-respected brands such as Jean Paul Gaultier, and more recently, became the new creative director of Maison Margiela, one of the highest-reputation fashion brands in the world.

Y/Project was known for their unexpected brand collaborations: in 2022, Martens collaborated with activewear brand FILA. The collaboration was an instant hit with many fashionistas.

“The FILA collaboration was very cool because I had never cared for FILA before that collaboration. It was very experimental,” said Eduviel Uribe, full-time fashion enthusiast and student at UIC.

The release was still sportswear but with Y/Project’s twist of asymmetrical styles and designs.

“I have never seen someone collab with FILA and make it look good and wearable,” Hudson said.

Y/Project had other successful collaborations with Melissa, Jean Paul Gaultier, Canada Goose and UGG.

Zhang said the Melissa collaboration “resonates most in my mind.”

“Specifically, the floral detail court shoe in the green colorway lives rent-free in my mind, and I quite literally think about that shoe at least once a week,” Zhang said.

Martens, before stepping away, was credited with creating the gender-neutral, quirky silhouette identity that Y/Project has.

“The brand lost some of its design language due to how many years he took part at Y/Project,” Uribe said.

Several luxury and designer brands are currently suffering under the world’s current economic state. Some designer brands, like Burberry, Prada and Vetements, are losing money and not meeting profit goals, which was the case for Y/Project in the last year. Elaouf’s passing and  Marten’s resignation only hurt the company more.

As luxury designer brands struggle in tough economic conditions, fans still hope for a renaissance of Y/Project in the future.

“Fashion, at the end of the day, is still a business that needs to be profitable to stay alive,” Zhang said. “But I do hope that maybe one day someone will offer to buy the brand out.

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