It is hard to quantify the meteoritic rise of Youths in Balaclava. For the fear for being reductive, it seems like this group of young designers came out of nowhere to launch a book at Dover Street Market (DSM) Singapore. And in a huge achievement for a local label, Youths in Balaclava counts the retail institution as one of its stockists. Overseas media outlets are quick to label them as the anarchic voice in Singapore. So we decided to speak to the collective to find out more about their origin story and to meet Ryan O’Toole Collett who photographed their book and their recent presentation in Paris.
ESQ: How did you all meet?
TAUFYQ ISKANDAR: We met at Gan Eng Seng Secondary School. We were friends from different cliques. I met Spencer first, I met Yi Chen and the rest afterwards, and then kind of got them all to hang out together.
ESQ: What led you to start this collective?
TAUFYQ ISKANDAR: Me and Spence always had this interest in fashion. [But it started with] the music that we were listening to at that time. Spence was into K-pop and I liked Guns and Roses, Jimi Hendrix and all that. So we found something in common that we felt we could do. We were working in different retail stores and picking things up along the way like managing a store, seasonal launches. At the same time, I was learning basic Photoshop and creating graphics. It started as a hobby. We didn’t think it would be something of a huge scale. There were a lot of things popping up, like the local retail store Alley, but they weren’t selling many local labels. We decided to take the whole thing to a different aspect, to elevate it. That was when it became interesting.
ESQ: What was the first collection like?
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Esquire Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Esquire Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
THE MILD HANGOVER
Hangovers get a bad rap. We know. If you’ve gotten this far in the magazine, you’ve surely divined that we’re mildly hungover most of the time.
AN ELECTRIC FUTURE
Polestar, the minimalist electric Swedish car brand, turns the voltage up on its competition.
LET'S GET REAL (ESTATE): LUXURIOUS LONDON
Royalty, shopping, the best tea and scones the world has to offer, and a lifestyle worthy of what you're working for. Here's why London is ripe for your next investment
NEXT UP....ZARAN VACHHA
As Co-founder of the events and talent agency Collective Minds and Managing Director of the Mandala Masters, Zaran Vachha is definitely not new to the culture scene, but he's certainly shaping what comes next.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED...
I DON’T WEAR SOCKS except in January.
The Body Is a Language
A bad handshake is such a turnoff; we feel irked when someone rolls their eyes at us; we can't stop pacing when we're nervous-ever wondered how certain body language has the power to change how we feel instantly? We explore why.
EYE OF THE TIGER
Hailing from Singapore, Japan and Brazil respectively, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes Darren Goh, Hiroki Akimoto and Alex Silva are proof that the ring demands as much from mind as it does from matter.
THE ADONIS COMPLEX
With the rise of superhero culture making a return and bringing with it the celebration of the classically ‘masculine’ body type, can men really overcome the pressure to conform when culture keeps getting in the way?
FUNNY BUT TRUE
A comedian, an iconic Singaporean, and now a man much evolved. After overcoming two years of pandemic limbo, unlocking career milestones one after another and undergoing a life-defining physical transformation, Rishi Budhrani is ready to emerge into the world renewed-and anew.
LIKE NO OTHER
With its horological triumphs, Hermès has truly come into its own as a watchmaking maison. In this exclusive interview with Esquire Singapore, CEO of Hermès Horloger, Laurent Dordet sheds some light on his timepieces' rising stardom and the importance of being different.