In a downtown Kingston courtyard, to the sound of King Tubby’s Hometown Hifi, a dancer is breathing night-time puffs of pollen into their lover’s mouth. Meanwhile, someone in a pleated mini dress and MC-boots is changing into dove blue suede sneakers for their way home from the club. Dancehall was about passion, sound systems, and sound clashes.
For his Fall/Winter 2023 collection, EYTYS Creative Director Max Schiller forces opposites together and battles it out in the dancehall. Keep playing, keep dancing, as Anthony Red Rose sang in his early dancehall hit Tempo.
The late 1970s saw Jamaica’s music scene enter a stage of free experimentation, deejay records became radio hits and it wasn’t long until dub was developed. Producers manipulated instrumentals, developing an electronic reggae that changed the sound of the Jamaican dancehalls.
Inspired by the movement, EYTYS Fall/Winter 2023 collection gravitates towards newness with a classic touch, departing from the usual yet staying true to its signature elevated everyday style. Featuring 28 looks, the silhouettes remain unisex and bold with a warm, earthy color palette and touches of blue.
At the heart of the collection lies a wink to something closer to home: etchings by artist Anders Zorn made on Dalarö, Sweden, where Max’s grandmother lived and where he spent childhood summers.
In the 1890s, the great Swedish painter started experimenting with female nudes in open air on the island. The works depict women skinny-dipping by the same cliffs where Max and his family used to go swimming, facing away from the beholder, as if unaware of being watched – a controversial motif at the time.
For Fall/Winter 2023, the prints decorate long-sleeved shirts, a leather biker jacket and leather mini skirt. Similar to the people of the late 1970s dancehalls, the women in Zorn’s paintings are free. The tribute to Anders Zorn merges familiarity with excitement, not shying away from provocation and pushing boundaries.
The season is a continued play on proportions and icons: a pair of baggy WCT tracksuit pants with an EYTYS grosgrain side strap paired with a baby tee, slim waisted tuxedo blazer and high heeled cowboy mules.
Staple jeans Benz, a baggy fit first introduced in 2017, are updated in green and brown overdyes, best styled with the new dressy shoe Akeem, a moc toe in fudge colored suede and brown crocodile embossed leather, reminiscent of something picked up in a Dalston shoe store back then.
The modernized seventies indoor sports sneakers Santos is revisited in dove blue and red suedes. Genesis, the floor licking wool coat and EYTYS icon by now, is introduced in a warm, earthy brown, giving the illusion of a never-ending silhouette.
Knitwear plays with transparency through floating V-necks and drop knit holes. Knotted metal pullers and d-rings, a signature detail, are found throughout the collection.
The collection toys with naughty nights and blowbacks: short rippled skirts, peak lapel blazers, warm colors, cropped oversized knits and zip flared jeans. Key to EYTYS’ DNA, Fall/Winter 2023 balances on the edge of sexiness and sophistication, embracing contradictions, as an ode to keep playing, keep dancing.
Photos courtesy of EYTYS
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