O’Shea collaborates with Metallica to showcase his Streetwear Collection

Justin O’Shea, the Australian fashion designer, collaborated with Metallica for his collection for Selfridges. This latest Streetwear Collection isn’t the first time the two are collaborating. Metallica modelled for the designer last year for Brioni. O’Shea self-funds and runs his own streetwear label called SSS World Corp. The designer believes that the fashion has become more interactive and the most influential brands have been those that are real instead of the ones producing crocodile bags.

The Streetwear Collection comprises Metallica’s icon

O’Shea’s collection includes a few basic elements including overcoats and suits, sneakers, tees, Hawaiian shirts, and accessories. The collection came in stores on October 20th and featured beanies, caps, socks, trousers, sweatshirts, bomber jackets and rain jackets with Metallica’s logo appearing on them, as well as a logo font for the Selfridges logo.

The sunglasses are from Carerra and the sneakers from Eytys. Jewelry in sterling silver and 18K gold with mother of pearl crosses were also highlighted in the collection. Benny Robinson, O’Shea’s collaborator and friend, assisted in designing the prints featuring pentagrams, pot leaves, hula dancers, and zombies. Robinson also previously helped O’Shea in redesigning the logo for Brioni, Italian suitmakers that O’Shea was the creative director of.

This streetwear collection is part of the campaign launched by Selfridges called “Music Matters”. The aim of this campaign is seeking to “reassert the importance of collective experiences in music at a time when 40 percent of London’s music venues have shut down in the past decade.”

A Guerrilla Fashion Show to flaunt the collection

The collection was showcased in a guerrilla fashion show in front of Ritz Hotel on Place Vendôme at 9 am sharp. O’Shea invited a bunch of individuals, including his 032c team, a few photographers and some journalists to the show.

A vintage Ford pickup was parked on the square which is a rare treat in Paris, and SSS security guards were positioned all around the crew. A vintage boom box played The Melvins and Snoop throughout the show as models appeared and exhibited his collection. Once the show was over, O’Shea made his entrance on a motorcycle which might have been the first ever designer bow that was gasoline-powered.

According to O’Shea, this collection is an evolution of what he initiated when working at Brioni. He came up with a different way to approach it by getting out of his personal zone and create a new aesthetic, which O’Shea points out, gave his collection uniqueness and accessibility.

A collection inspired by pop culture

The references featured in O’Shea’s collection were inspired by the pop culture, mostly the music and film from the 90s and early 2000s. Some of them are right in the face like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Strokes; while others are unexpected like Beetlejuice, Faith No More. It is not possible imagining other luxurious brands showcasing in Paris drawing up the mood board of O’Shea. It is close to an art piece one can find on a wall of a dorm room in the early 2000s rather than in an office of Kering or LVMH.

h/t: Revolve Mag

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