Youths in Balaclava Spring Summer 2023 at Paris Men's Fashion Week

The collection is inspired by the history of the people from the Nusantara region, a South-East Asian archipelago. The archipelagic nature of maritime South-East Asia meant that sea was the most efficient mode of transport within the region, so it is no surprise that the people of Nusantara were known to be excellent seafarers.

In this collection, we combined the styles, silhouettes and details of the clothes worn by the people of Nusantara and weaved it into our own unique interpretation. Ultimately, we aim to create a narrative that stems from our history and who we are now.

The collection features embroidery detailing as well as various trimmings for various garments, some of which include coins created specifically for the collection. Floral shank buttons, antique silver snap buttons and our own floral zippers are among the few new hardwares used. In order to achieve a more textured look, we used uneven yarn brushed cotton for most of our T-shirts.

The prints were inspired by batik, which is an ancient Indonesian art form; a nod to the crafts and techniques used in this region. We have also included more handcrafted accessories to this collection, like a feather pendant and leather stamped key fob, which are all made of vegetable tanned leather.

Since maritime is a major part of the conversation, piracy is also another topic we wanted to explore, which will serve as another perspective to this collection.

In the past, many of our people were ridiculed and used in many narratives as pirates to create a glorified identity for the colonizers; in addition to exploitation of colonizers who made parts of our culture their own. It is now time for us to take pride in our unique identities and own it.

WHO IS YOUTHS IN BALACLAVA

Youths In Balaclava, from Singapore striving to create a tribe bound by their collective power tt influence culture, not only by thinking – but also doing. They unite to celebrate expression in any way, shape, or form.

This vision gave birth to a new modern platform and cultural expression for the brand. Youths In Balaclava strive to combine traditional craftsmanship and innovations that will be useful to their work, learning from artists/craftsmen and mother nature herself. The infrastructure of the brand is supported by pillars that are represented by the four-card suit.

Spades: is the mainline, providing thematic and narrative seasonal collections.

Hearts: focuses on the brand’s very own atelier crafting products that vary from accessories to furniture.

Diamonds: YIBBandits is a secondary line that is formed to create new channels for the brand to connect with the community that was once a haven for its members.

Clover: all works and miscellaneous projects that express themselves in an independent manner like zines and music.