Fashion Through Sound, Sound Through Fashion: LOVERBOY’s SS26 “Prepared Piano”
by Adriano Batista
At Selfridges’ Summer of Sound: Music Talks, Allie X and Charles Jeffrey sat down to discuss how music and fashion shape an artist’s visual identity. Fresh off LOVERBOY’s SS26 showcase at Abbey Road Studios (where Allie X walked the runway), the conversation mirrored the collection’s core idea: fashion and sound are intertwined, each feeding the other.
For SS26, titled Prepared Piano, music isn’t just inspiration but also the foundation. As Jeffrey puts it, “In 2025, fashion for fashion’s sake feels vulgar.” Instead, the collection draws from the experimental, hands-on process of music-making, particularly the legacy of Abbey Road Studios. The designs pull from the studio’s archives, reimagining its archetypes: the sharp-suited executives, the effortlessly cool musicians of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the lab-coated engineers who shaped sound behind the scenes.
These figures morph into modern characters: Gen Z bedroom producers in oversized hoodies, rockstars with sleeves flaring like trumpet bells, and technicians in exaggerated lab coats. The collection nods to both past innovators and the new generation redefining music today.
But Prepared Piano goes deeper, asking: What does fashion sound like? How can sound be worn? Jeffrey sketched while listening to music recorded at Abbey Road, letting melodies guide color and shape. The result is a lineup of warped classics: shirts with extra sleeves that tie like belts, pre-attached ties sewn askew, sunglasses melted into surreal shapes. Like John Cage’s modified piano, these garments are disrupted, unpredictable.
LOVERBOY turned Abbey Road into a creative squat where models lounged on equipment, a live band played, and collaborators like Marni’s Francesco Risso and musician Planningtorock staged spontaneous performances. The day’s experiments were recorded into an EP, with samples made available as a free plugin for producers.
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Fashion Through Sound, Sound Through Fashion: LOVERBOY’s SS26 “Prepared Piano”
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