The publication is produced in collaboration with photographer Jordan Hemingway. Here, the pair discuss their project
- TextHannah Tindle
Last year, Stefano Pilati – former creative director of Yves Saint Laurent and Ermenegildo Zegna – broke a three-and-a-half year long hiatus with the official launch of his new menswear label, Random Identities, after a few years of experimentation via Pilati’s Instagram account. Having relocated to Berlin, where the designer and brand are now both permanently based, Pilati’s first independent project heralded a new direction for his work outside of the luxury market. “An honest statement is necessary: fashion at high prices no longer means exclusivity,” he said in 2018. “My response is to produce moderately priced clothes – ‘the low’ – and present them in a high fashion context, creating limited-edition items which by quality of design will justify the proposal – ‘the high.’”
Random Identities’ latest collection is now set to drop at Dover Street Market London, New York, Los Angeles, Ginza and SSENSE on March 7, and from today, an accompanying zine produced in collaboration with photographer Jordan Hemingway is available to purchase in stores. “A common friend introduced me to Jordan Hemingway and his ex-creative partner for the occasion of designing my new Random Identities web site,” Pilati tells Another Man of how the project began. “During the time we became friends and never lost the occasion to work together – as it happens now, a few times. What drew me to his work was the anti-conformist work he developed; the freshness of the quality of his work; his talent; his personality; the understanding of each other.”
The publication sees Hemingway and Pilati pay homage to the goth, in response to a contemporary dilution of subculture. “I wanted to view the collection through the lens of the world in which I feel most at home,” says Hemingway, enlisting his friend Parma Ham – recognisable by their almost impossibly large jet mohican – styling and starring in the shoot. Here, Ham’s own clothes were mixed with the new Random Identities collection and pieces from Pilati’s personal leather archive.
“The clothes I design are transversal staples to fashion, not trends,” continues Pilati. “My brand is called Random Identities because of a random logic I have to identify its aesthetic. Ones I share also with Jordan Hemingway. I know it [the goth subculture] partially, therefore I am curious. It is a ‘dark’ and more profound subculture than the basic common perception of it. It is close to Jordan, therefore, I love it as I love him. The casting and him dedicating the zine to me, which I have found really touching and beautiful as Jordan’s pictures.”
The pair also have plans to work together in the future, having found such common grounding in the way they approach their work. “The collaboration with Stefano means so much to me,” says Hemingway. “The trust, love and support he’s shown me has pushed me and taught me so much. His genius is unparalleled and I feel humbled to be able to collaborate with him.”
The next Random Identities collection is released at Dover Street Market New York, Dover Street Market Los Angeles, Dover Street Market London, Dover Street Market Ginza & SSENSE on March 7. The zine is available in store from today.
