Working alongside the British Fashion Council, every season River Island commissions selected designers to create limited edition collections. The latest addition to the line-up of the initiative, titled Design Forum, is British menswear label Blood Brother helmed by Nicholas Biela and James Waller.

The collaboration does not only span the actual garments but also includes a vast and extensive visual campaign that explores a new thematic thread each and every time.

Here we exclusively show the coinciding short film. An immersive piece, the story follows emerging music artists YXNG Bane, Lady Leshurr and Kojey Radical, three influential and socially active voices that extend the ethos of Blood Brother.

“Us as artists, we go through anxiety, we go through depression, we go through the things that other people might not think is okay to go through… Sometimes you have to break down to break through.”

The two-minute project explores our relationship with technology and celebrity culture. Through the prism of intimate interviews, the three artists reflect on their approach to translating their personalities into the online realm, contemplating the improbability of ever rendering one’s outlook and voice seamlessly.

While the balance between their public and personal personas remain at the core of the project, the film also touches upon topics such as mental health and the responsibilities that come with their public platform.

“We can sometimes get so consumed with the negative that we overlook that there is a passage to spreading positivity.”

Watch the full film below and follow the news about River Island’s Design Forum collaboration with Blood Brother here.