Having built a solid foundation on shoes and jeans and dabbled in collaborations with the likes of H&M and others, cult Swedish brand Eytys is amping up its act. Its first stop was a Paris debut, with a freestyle cocktail presentation and live performance by Swedish rapper Jonatan Leandoer127 (aka Yung Lean).
“I think that going from shoes to jeans and a full look is putting the brand in a context it deserves,” cofounder Jonathan Hirschfeld shouted over the din. “It’s a global thing.” A hip throng milled around, sipping Swedish gin cocktails, and Swedish star Robyn was spotted slipping through the crowd toward the runway space.
The inspiration for Eytys’s second full-fledged collection came straight from the dance floor—specifically, a Beirut nightclub where cofounder and creative director Max Schiller had his bachelor party. “It was filled with really fancy women wearing high fashion, but there was one girl who was wearing baggy jeans, an army jacket, and hiking boots,” he recalled. “I thought, That’s the kind of carefree girl I’m interested in. I think androgyny and confidence are just really sexy.”
Style-wise, Schiller has an obsession with the pre-Internet, MTV-fueled era. Dubbed Club Omnivore, this collection was billed as “all dressed down with everywhere to go” for the kind of kids who might wake up late; throw on a pair of boxer-style shorts and top them with the new ultrabaggy, five-pocket jeans in lining fabrics; don a varsity top and Space Cowboy stompers; and rock until dawn (the label’s base will thrill to the biker jacket with white accents and bottle green sleeve gussets). If the Eytys woman is headed to the city, she might top those jeans with a tailored white jacket. A collaboration with men’s suiting brand Tiger of Sweden offered up ’80s-inspired tailoring as a point of contrast. Filling out the accessories line was a jewelry collaboration with Brooklyn designer Martine Ali, as well as new signature eyewear.