Today, at a pop-up store in Paris’s Third Arrondissement, 1017 Alyx 9SM’s Matthew Williams released a photography book, lensed by Daniel Shea and art directed by a firm named OK-RM, called Ex Nihilo. (This was also the name of Williams’s Fall collection, which included both women’s and menswear.) “Ex Nihilo is a Latin term that means ‘out of nothing,’ ” said the designer. “In it, we photographed all the things that go into the brand: We shot the ore that we use to make our buckles; we shot the factories we work at; we photographed Los Angeles, that kind of spawned out of the desert.” It prompted an interesting dimensionality to consider; Williams thinks about the entire sustainable ecosystem—the things, the places, the people—that power the quite powerful Alyx. He creates from the cumulative mood resulting from that environment.
Williams was also not afraid to admit that Fall’s shapes were “similar” to those of the past—if it’s working, it doesn’t need much nurturing, he seemed to suggest. Thus, he took his leggy, layered, oversize-on-top, and skinny-through-the-ankle silhouettes and focused on fabrication—like reclaimed and spun fishing wire in trousers, or intricate camouflaged pony hair on coats. Silky black puffer jackets were also strong and glinted with the sort of sensitive snarl that can be loosely used to describe the Alyx aesthetic. Lastly: Williams introduced his first women’s handbags here. The best was a boxy, XL-size pseudo-briefcase, carried by Kaia Gerber in look one.
Out of nothing, much materialized.
