Tzuji
So there’s fashion and music, and then there’s Tzuji voguing somewhere in between. The fashion brand was started by DJ and trend setter Larry Tee in 2013. You would more likely know Tee for his song writing abilities after writing ‘Supermodel (You Better Work)’ which was sung by RuPaul in 1992, and fast became known as the most fashionable track in the history of fashion.
Tee first started designing clothes when he was travelling the world as a DJ, as you do. His skill for designing soon became recognised by all his superstar friends and they started to ask for items to be designed for them. Tzuji was born.
His designs have been directly influenced from his career of DJing as he witnessed club culture unfolding before his eyes. As you can imagine the silhouettes are loose fitting and follow a sportswear aesthetic. His spring/ summer 2015 collection #SaveTheHumans was more #SaveTheRaver with its brash and toxic coloured items. The baggy sweatshirts and drop crotch trousers had a hallucinogenic feel and lightweight fabrics would let the skin breathe at a 24 hour rave for sure. There was also a shimmer of iridescent asymmetric zip up skirts with matching crop tops, and of course a poncho with a collage of faces to keep you dancing in the rain.
Larry Tee explained his collection to us, “When I started making the SS15 collection we tried to capture what is going on around us not just in fashion. I liked the idea of making a statement about our future and our environment, but with clothing you run the risk of being frivolous because after all, its’ just clothing. But wanting to put a good message out appealed to me. I thought iridescent fabrics and futuristic prints with dinosaurs and robots, both non-living creatures, to tell the story would be a great way to get the idea across. Certainly when I was running clubs in the 90s I was influenced by rave culture and one brand in particular, WL&T by Walter Von Beirendonck made a huge impression on me. And DJing in Japan and meeting menswear designer Kohshnin Satoh, lit the spark that has made me crave cool clothing.”
The Tzuji autumn/winter 2015 collection referenced the Electroclash music movement, of which Larry Tee helped to launch. The club wear vibe still heavily features in all in one boiler suits and vibrant red bomber jackets. The collection is extremely graphic with black and white allowing the slogans and pops of cherry red to come alive. Ripped jeans and latex are plastered with Polaroid images and stickers of broken hearts contrasted against the saying ‘happily ever after’.
The lightning bolt used in this collection represents the fun and excitement that Tzuji is all about. Staying true to its club kid roots and providing wearable but attention grabbing items that, let’s be honest, everyone wants to wear.
