“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.” – Swami Vivekananda
Steve Oklyn chooses to found his O K L Y N on thought, intellectual, and democratic.
O K L Y N is a reflection, it is contradictory, it is a warning (above all).
O K L Y N is not a brand but a series of items sanctioned for sale that are a critic analysis of the fashion industry and correspond directly to the information that has been derived from investigations authored by Steve Oklyn himself.
The label is born in 2011 as a social experiment. The goal is to focus on “hot” issues of the modern age (what we live and what we will live).
The garments, released from any kind of trend, transcend the seasonality and the limits imposed by the international market. Essential, with basic colous, evergreen: they become a means for the fluid transfer of (useful) information to a more or less wide audience. And through the garments themselves, collection after collection, O K L Y N condenses its evanescent characteristics into a practical, effective, wearable philosophy.
We met the designer some weeks ago and that’s what she told us.
Hello Steve! When and how did your interest in fashion start?
In 2011 when I launched the online platform NOTVOGUE.COM. NOT VOGUE is a digital experiment in FASHION WORLD critique.
What is O K L Y N?
It is a thought process. It’s a way for me and anyone else who feels that branded fashion has lost all relevance to express that thought.
O K L Y N is an aesthetic and social experiment, not a brand. O K L Y N is a series of processes and procedures, not a collection of products. How do you define your style? Who is your top customer?
Style is one’s personal intellectual procedure. The first commercial customer is LN-CC in London. MODES in Milan purchased the SS20 collection including two boxes. That SS20 statement is titled: BUTTONS.
It is an exploration of peyote buttons on human consciousness. The idea is stated with this text: THE TRUE DESIGNER HELPS THE WORLD BY REVEALING MYSTIC TRUTHS. The central image is a peyote plant.
Society, challenges, love: how do you combine these three elements in your work?
SOCIETY = CRITIQUE, CHALLENGES = SURVIVAL, LOVE = CONSCIOUSNESS.
Tell us something about this FW20-21 collection.
The intellectual objective was to come to terms with the current intensity of consumerist addiction. Branded consumption has been weaponized against the world’s youth in the same degree as opioid addiction. The statement is titled: POPPIES. The visual is an opium poppy secreting the plant’s juice.
What is the key piece?
There are five elements: 1. An A1 size poster 2. A New Era baseball hat 3. A Bic mini lighter 4. A metal badge size 1.25 inch in diameter 5. A cotton short sleeve graphic t-shirt. The five statements can operate individually or a very limited set of all five elements come in a handmade box. For me, the boxed set is the ideal experience. The KEY piece is the poster. The [narrative] is stated at the top: THE IDEOLOGY OF CONSUMERISM HAS OUTLIVED ITS PURPOSE.
The [algorithm] is stated at the bottom of the poster with the text forming a circle that reads: THE TRUE ARTIST IS AN AMAZING LUMINOUS FOUNTAIN. The five statements in combination and/or independently are weaponized. The objective is to replace the rationalism of industrialized branded fashion with a renewed poetry and mysticism about life.
As a designer, how do you imagine the future of fashion?
Ideally fewer products and more ideas. Instead of more collections, I would like to see the designers write books.
To take some time to really explain what they are doing and why they are doing it. More discussion and less design.
As always, our last question… According to you, what is really FUCKING YOUNG!?
Individualism.
