Today, we have an exciting project to share with you guys! Together with our friends from Les Benjamins we produced our “Caught in the Moment” Editorial including their new “Forgotten Pacenotes” Fall Winter 2021 collection.
If you haven’t heard of Les Benjamins yet, well sorry for you. The possibility of having missed out on an exciting journey of culture meets street fashion, is most likely too high to catch up on now.
Don’t worry, that’s what we are here for: Keeping you on track is our pleasure !
Les Benjamins is an Istanbul-based luxury streetwear brand founded by Bünyamin Aydın in 2011. On the platform they encompass a retail-space and lifestyle brand first for men and with Lamia Aydın finally opening the LB doors for women as well. Their products come with an aesthetic philosophy that translates local stories, deep-rooted cultural influences, and rituals into craftsmanship of comfort. Bünyamin Aydın embraces exploration by touching into cultural landscapes with a style that manages to defy cliché and at the same time fuels the eagerness to discover and rethink the unknown. Les Benjamins brings the influence of the East into the here and now.
Both Les Benjamins F/W 21 Leather Dress and Set (styled with Isa Boulder Bralette);
Les Benjamins F/W 21 Women’s Tailoring (styled with Isa Boulder Stockings)
The brand’s apparel collections are currently stocked at Harvey Nichols, Antonioli, Saks 5th Avenue and more. Started humbly with 30 printed T-shirts, the project later garnered Aydın an invitation to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul and later Milan as well as Paris Fashion Week. Les Benjamins represents a vision of the contemporary East. “We are a platform of how we want the East to be today,” notes Aydın. Les Benjamins’ rangefinder logo speaks to perspective, and how the brand interprets the East from a unique point-of-view.
The “Forgotten Pacenotes” Collection
In our editorial “Caught in the Moment” you can find a small selection of Les Benjamin’s current Fall/ Winter 2021 collection.
The Designer and Creative Director reminisces Turkey’s little-known rally culture of the 70s and 80s, as well as icons like Renç Koçibey, Serdar Bostancı, and Ali Sipahi. “Forgotten Pacenotes” is an homage to all these infamous faces. The women’s collection—which was also inspired by the ever-relevant aesthetic of Turkey’s rally heritage, also gave a nod to French pilot Michèle Mouton’s iconic style.
Luisa wears Les Benjamins F/W 21 Bottoms and Shoes, Shirt and Top Stylists own;
Leo wears Full Les Benjamins F/W 21
Narrating the cycle of a rally, from the driver’s mental preparation to the race itself, the collection is divided into two chapters: ‘’rally-style’’ and ‘’crash & repair’’. Style and performance are the collection’s spiritual and functional pillars, which are translated into a rich range of tailored silhouettes, experimental textures, and bold patterns in earthy hues with eye-popping dashes of magenta.
The menswear and womenswear staples from this collection include distressed carpet jacquard, oil spill prints on polar fleece, natural shimmery cupro, printed denim, light woven knitwear, and vegetal leather: intentionally experimental fabrications conceived by Aydın, who set his mind on natural fabric treatments that came with an artisanal feel.
To further express their affinity for real garments made for real people, Les Benjamins has once again confronted the richness of street-culture and traditional heritage by designing a multicultural collection that is thoroughly rooted in contemporary culture.
And now you’re asking, by having so much movement and speed around the entire collection theme, why “Caught in the Moment”? Well, if you follow TITLE already for a while, you know we stan a great perspective. TITLE wants to celebrate the new way of life, take a second to let a situation breathe and just appreciate a great cultural moment.
We are excited for the next stories Les Benjamins will share with us, follow their journey with us or check out their website.
Luisa wears Les Benjamins F/W 21 Blazer, Skirt Stylists own, Jeffrey Campbell Boots
Credits
Photography: Lucas Caglar
Post Production: Luis Moecks
Styling: Neslihan Degerli
Production: avec nous GmbH, Enlil Isik
Assistant: Furkan Cetin
Hair&Make-up: Thommy Momsen
Cast: Luisa Beinhold, Alicia (via Elis x Casting), Leo Rey
