le PÈRE FW24 Is So le PÈRE (EXCLUSIVE)
le PÈRE CEO and founder Ryan Wright once told us about his appreciation for mystery, the intrigue of not knowing what a brand's next move is. And that pretty much sums up le PÈRE.
le PÈRE isn't your typical fashion brand. You never exactly know what awaits from the label. One day, le PÈRE will drop the boldest jerseys, soon snatched up by the cool kids and fashionable celebs. Another day might see the New York-based label hosting a Cash Cobain concert, packing out the front yard of its retail space on Orchard Street.
So, what's le PÈRE up to now? The brand just has begun to roll out its Fall/Winter 2024 collection, maintaining its mission of flipping hyper-masculinity on its head with stylish flair.
In other words, le PÈRE FW24 is classic le PÈRE glitter-bathed and crisp striped jerseys, trompe l'oeil takes on nostalgic sporty pieces, and graphics playing on iconic athletic logos. There are also joint-designed sweaters and pullovers made with animator and illustrator Drew Tyndell, upholding the brand's ethos for creative collaboration.
With the brand delivering its first FW24 drop, we sat down with the le PÈREs to further unpack the label's "mystery," from how the label came to fruition to what le PÈRE is all about.
Tell me about your brand and how it came about?
As we were building the independent music label AWAL, we found ourselves working regularly with a network of burgeoning young creatives — supremely talented individuals whose creative disciplines spanned graphic design, illustration, photography, and visual arts.
This emerging creative community was, and still is, influencing pop culture in a seismic way through their work and creative practices, for everyone ranging from Frank Ocean to Kaytranada, Aminé, Post Malone, Brockhampton, and Travis Scott. The more we worked with and embedded ourselves within this community, the more we realized that one of the best ways these visual artists could express themselves in the real world and share their art with more people was to use clothing and fashion as the canvas for their creativity. And despite their large followings on social media, most lacked the resources and access to work in fashion.
le PÈRE was then founded as not only a clothing brand but a creative studio that seeks to collaborate with these emerging graphic artists to bring their work to life in each collection.
The formation of the brand, in some ways, was a product of the pandemic, specifically in relation to how so many of these visual artists and graphic designers were employing new and innovative ways of exploring their creative practice through different digital platforms.
le PÈRE felt like the natural evolution of that process was a means of manifesting this ethos into physical garments.
What's the inspiration behind it?
Much of what inspired both the brand and the clothing was this desire to explore what we call a more sensual, and expressive masculinity. Traditional masculine clothing tends to find its roots, both aesthetically and functionally, in "macho-esque" styles and silhouettes like workwear, military uniforms, sportswear, etc. But when pushed toward hyper-masculinity and layered with expressive graphics, these same styles become much more complex and begin to convey more mature attitudes full of emotion and sensuality. At the beginning of our design process, we may start with a coach's jacket, a football kit, painter pants, or a bomber jacket, experimenting in different ways to pull out these layers and attitudes, searching for a playful and slightly subversive juxtaposition between the different extremities on the spectrum of masculinity.
What's the background of those behind the label?
Our team feels somewhat atypical for a fashion brand because half of us come from the music industry, helping nurture artist careers while also building one of the biggest independent record labels (AWAL). That experience of working with creatives all across the spectrum to collaborate on creating worlds around these musicians felt like a seamless transition to what we've created with le PÈRE.
The rest of the team brings more traditional fashion backgrounds and experience. Our Design Director, Sam Choi, honed his craft at iconic brands such as Thom Browne and R13, which has played a huge part in shaping our design sensibilities and language.
What do you think of the current fashion landscape, and where do you fit into it (if at all)?
The current fashion landscape, specifically menswear, continues to be a fascinating mix of different aesthetic niches and explorations of the identities behind those designing the brands.
Given how fashion continues to disseminate via platforms like TikTok and social media at large, as opposed to being restricted to more traditional media channels, it's inevitable that more people today have access and can react to what's new and exciting in real-time.
This undoubtedly brings challenges when it comes to how quickly microtrends seem to come and go, as well as the evergrowing proliferation of collaborations between various brands.
Yet, for us, it provided an opportunity to create something that we thought was missing within the larger landscape and went beyond the traditional boundaries of a clothing brand. While we don't consider our clothes to be avant-garde, we felt that our collaboration with these emerging creatives could provide a breath of fresh air in rethinking how a brand might approach design. Our hope is to continue to offer wearable, accessible clothing that reimagines classic menswear and sportswear silhouettes through our eclectic and artistic lens.
What's the goal for your brand?
Our dream for le PÈRE from the outset was to build a creative community — a place where creatives not only work together but respect and treat each other like family.
We've always wanted to be a brand that aspiring creatives and artists would look to as a platform that will help them reach more people and give them the freedom to express themselves without placing constraints on how they work.
Our creative community truly is central to our brand and at the core of our DNA. And one of the main priorities for us as we were launching the brand was to uplift our friends and collaborators.
As we continue to discover new creatives and share them with the world, we will also collaborate with different brands that inspire us.
Anything else you'd like to add?
We absolutely love discovering and working with new people, especially talented creatives, so please reach out to us at studio@lepere.com or visit us at our flagship store in LES at 90 Orchard.
