Get an Up-Close, Backstage Look at Our Legacy's First Womenswear Collection
The founders share their challenges and triumphs exclusively with HYPEBAE.
Womenswear has long been in mind for cult men’s brand Our Legacy. In fact, as co-founder Christopher Nying shared, “We had always thought about making women’s clothing; there were some women already buying our stuff but around five years ago we sort of had the feeling we had to do this.” Fast-forward to five years later and Our Legacy debuted its womenswear offering alongside the Spring/Summer 2019 collection at Paris Fashion Week Mens to much acclaim.
The collection, titled “Synthesis,” was re-shown on home turf during Stockholm Fashion Week in an intimate presentation at the brand’s studio space. Although the title could easily be applied to how seamlessly the individual garments flow between mens and women’s forms, it actually references the core identity that runs through the lineup. “Our concept looks different each time. Sometimes it’s more about the fabric we develop, or colors, and sometimes it’s more style. This time we had quite a clear concept for everything,” Nying stated, before adding “It’s quite abstract, but a lot of the fabric is inspired by agriculture and pest control methods. You know, when you cover flowers so birds don’t come in and you cover plants, there are all these fabrics that act as natural pest control.”
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
But for a brand that truly excels at something to the extent that it their brand identity becomes intrinsically synonymous with it, in this instance menswear, can entering previously unchartered territory be a daunting task? According to Nying, the most testing aspect was ensuring it all worked as one. “I think the challenge this first season was to sync everything together. As a simple example; if you make a coat for a womenswear collection, how does it look in menswear?” he said, before elaborating, “I don’t think that the challenge is in making the garments themselves, but it’s more about how to apply our DNA to womenswear and still be true to what we’re doing.” “Its playful and experimental but at the same time, we’re serious about it, added co-founder Jockum Hallin, “We’ve always been a little bit about pushing boundaries, pushing ourselves forward and this is just the next natural step for us.”
“It’s more about how to apply our DNA to womenswear and still be true to what we’re doing.”
It helps then, that the label’s womenswear designer was already part of the company; another example of the natural synthesis that brings this collection to life. “That was sort of the last piece of the puzzle that fell into place,” Hallin mused. “We started working with her, testing out the accessories collection and it worked really well, so we had all these ideas on aesthetic and how we want it [womenswear] to look, but that was really like the last piece.”
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
Paul Jeong/HYPEBAE
As for the future of Our Legacy womenswear, that’s a chapter that’s still waiting to be written. As Nying points out, “Many decisions we’ve been making at Our Legacy are quite organic so I’m not saying “we’ll just see how it goes”.” One thing’s for sure; the duo have confirmed that they’ll continue to present both mens and women’s as one collection in its entirety for the foreseeable future, rather than subscribing to the traditional, gender-separated fashion weeks.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming this is the brand’s attempt at jumping on the trend of gender-fluid fashion, however, “I would not like to call it unisex; we’ve done men’s dresses, we’ve done a “women’s” blouse for men and we did a bomber jacket for women,” Nying divulged. “We’re seen as an established brand, so eyes are more critical” Hallin replied, “We want it [the collection] to feel as balanced as everything else. We want it to be 50/50 in terms of size.” It’s good news for fans of Our Legacy, and those who have been long-awaiting a dedicated women’s offering, and another perfect example of the cult brand’s inherent and complete dedication to synthesis.
