It's always nice to see a master pass along their cosign to an acolyte. Yohji Yamamoto's WILDSIDE project is exactly that, with the venerable Japanese designer using his platform to shine a light on the next generation of creatives.
PROLETA RE ART is a worthy example, as the one-man-brand is launching its first major collaboration with Yamamoto's WILDSIDE.
It's not unlikely that you've never heard of PROLETA RE ART. On the other hand, if you care at all about the style of some of today's tastemaking musicians and athletes, you've probably long admired the Japanese designer's handmade wares.
Founded by "PROT," an anonymous designer who uses Instagram as his sole outlet, PROLETA RE ART is an exploration of painstaking craft.
Each PROLETA RE ART garment, be it jacket, jeans, or hat, is stitched countless times by PROT, who makes everything himself.
Scraps of deadstock bandanas and vintage denim are interwoven with layers of intricate stitchwork, yielding utterly unique garments that appear to be shedding layers of faded indigo.
Famous fans of PROLETA RE ART's work include Travis Scott, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Odell Beckham Jr., to name but a few.
And you have to be famous, or at least quite wealthy, to afford PROLETA RE ART: prices for the designer's clothing start around $4,000.
But there is demand for this kinda stuff, as you can see by perusing the site of stockists like Mannahatta NY and MR PORTER/a>.
Everything sells with the quickness, elevating the boro jackets and jeans beyond the realm of mere clothing and closer to the boundary of pure art.
PROLETA RE ART's WILDSIDE collaboration is no less special.
Note that WILDSIDE, if you aren't aware, is a multimedia venture overseen by Yohji Yamamoto, Inc. with input from creative luminaries like Motofumi "Poggy" Kogi, who manages the imprint's collaborations.
For this partnership, PROLETA RE ART incorporated bandanas, boro patchwork, and sashiko stiches into a Yohji Yamamoto Pour Homme denim jacket and jeans, yielding two one-off customs that are even more exclusive than PROT's typical output.
Retailing at $6,500 for the jacket and $5,500 for the jeans, you better have deep pockets if you wish to enter the raffle on WILDSIDE's website.
If you can't justify spending four figures right now, fret not. PROT accepts bespoke orders through Instagram DM. Just don't expect him to make you anything with official Yohji branding.
