Who says fashion is only for women? Beyond the madness of the runways lies the other side of fashion, where practicality and authenticity prevail over extravagance. Streetwear’s casual elegance is characterized by its tendency to belong to a grassroots group, in this case a really cool skate crew, despite the regularity of the big fashion houses—meet LYC, Ljubljana Yugoslavia Clothing, where you can get a glimpse beyond Zasta and skateboards to the visually sophisticated male soul.
LYC is a little more than a Slovenian new wave brand - its geographic definition is questionable, because although it is said to be designed and sold in Slovenia, its spirit is reminiscent of the whole Balkan region. Thanks to the cultural interweaving, post-ironic Yugoslavian symbols such as the cezve, the kiosks, the aforementioned Zastava or Yugo, or even the work of the Slovenian sculptor France Rotar, are recalled in the designs.
The invocation of Yugoslavian nostalgia is not only in the symbols and embroidery, a retro feel permeates the patterning of all the collections—and although evoking the past (mostly from the 60s to the 2000s) is in its golden age, you can feel that the guys are preserving and embodying their ‘cultural legacy’ in an overall visual way.
Not only in terms of the result, but also in the work processes, they are true to locality: most of the products are made in a one-room apartment in the center of Ljubljana, and further manufacturing is also linked to this area. By the very nature of the brand, it is important to them to ensure the best quality, so they focus on seasonal collections.
Three things make LYC what they are: streetwear fashion, Yugoslavian aesthetics and skateboard culture—the latter of which you can get a deeper insight into, as their Instagram page features their unique visual world as well as their skateboarding adventures.
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