Stüssy and Our Legacy are undeniable purveyors of ‘cool’ in the current era of fashion, where streetwear and more typical mid-fashion brands live in symbiosis. Collaborations are few and far between for both nowadays, but neither of these brands, particularly Our Legacy, will engage in them without a great reason to do so.
Or, at least, this is what I thought before I saw this month's drop. Going back to the spring of 2020, when the partnership was in its infancy, there was a mystique surrounding the collection - PR campaigns held little information, deliberately not giving much away. This year, the mystery is no longer. Full look-books were released days in advance, showing off a far larger collection than expected. This is by no means a bad thing, however, the collection seemed like it was trying to do too much.
Our Legacy are probably my most desirable brand in fashion at present. I love the store in Silver Place and the prices, whilst high, seem aspirational. The Stüssy collaboration only heightens this, offering quality pieces at a slightly lower price bracket than your typical OL customer may be used to. However, my issue with the collection comes down to the design choices. 2020’s offering was a concise, compact collection with a variety of different pieces that all worked well together and, bar a few sweatshirts and tees, each piece was unique. Last week’s, not so much. Most pieces were offered in a variety of colourways, and even centrepieces such as the sheepskin vests had 3 different variants. This no doubt caters to the masses, and allows more people to buy into the collaboration, yet takes away a large amount of the exclusivity of such a revered collaboration - last year I was gutted to miss out on a chambray shirt, this year I don’t really feel anything about the collection.
However, I also feel I might be being negative for the sake of it here - the collaboration is made entirely of recycled fabrics and textiles that lay unused, no doubt a step in the right direction for sustainability, and an interesting concept that means no one piece is entirely identical, and no piece from the collection will have a re-run. The aforementioned sheepskin vests are superb, and I’m incredibly envious of anyone who managed to buy one, purely for the outrageous, Lovecraftian effect they will have on any outfit. Another personal highlight is the double-breasted suit jacket. Anyone who knows me, also knows I love a casual suit, and double-breasted suits always offer the right amount of casual cool, whilst also looking like a mafioso tribute act. My one gripe with this piece is that there are no matching trousers, which to me defeats the point of the jacket, unless you were to wear it with a pair of jeans, or mismatch suit trousers, which is never a good look (believe me, I’ve tried).
The collection has basically sold out everywhere, and has undoubtedly been received by the wider audience very well. Maybe then, I should just stick to Our Legacy’s main-line instead of being pedantic about a good thing.
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