Just before Paris fashion week wrapped up, Y/Project FW23 reminded us that all good things really do come to those who wait. For some, it even provided a much-needed respite. Musician and performer Tommy Cash sat front row, cocooned in his pyjamas and duvet – literally wearing his bed. For the rest of us, it simply served as a reminder of why creative director Glenn Martens remains the contemporary king of deconstruction and manipulation. 

Set to the dulcet tones of Handel’s famous aria Lascia ch’io pianga – also a sardonic reference to the prelude of Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist, according to the show notes – this was a collection that demanded concentration and close inspection. Blink, and you might mistake one thing for something entirely different. FW23 focused on distortion through embroidery, layering and fraying garments with a near-identical fabric. Marten’s penchant for trompe l’oeil made itself known through pornographic prints cropped and printed across silk and jersey garments, teasing something altogether more explicit. The classic bomber jacket was reworked across men’s and womenswear, while baggy thigh-high boots crept so far up the leg they appeared cut from an all-in-one. Elsewhere, jewellery continued to resemble wearable sculpture, including the Parisian label’s trademark ‘middle finger’ earrings, described as a “gesture of complicity, unity and individuality.”

Under Martens, Y/Project remains a disruptive force in both practice and aesthetic; it’s the kind of perspective that speaks to fashion’s early adopters, keen to carve an independent identity that, much like the choice of soundtrack for this collection, toys with irony and illusion.