Y/Project, Paris's cult avant-garde label, shut down after losing both founders

Y/Project was founded in Paris in 2010 by Yohan Serfaty and Gilles Elalouf. After Serfaty's death from cancer in 2013, Elalouf appointed Glenn Martens — Serfaty's former assistant — as creative director. Under Martens, the brand became one of Paris's most influential avant-garde labels, known for twisted denim, exaggerated proportions, and gender-fluid construction. It developed a cult following and a place in the Paris Fashion Week calendar.

In July 2024, co-founder and owner Gilles Elalouf died. The brand lost its operational anchor. CEO Pascal Conte-Jodra left shortly afterward. In September 2024, Glenn Martens departed, and a Paris commercial court placed Y/Project into receivership. The brand was put up for sale in October 2024, but no buyer emerged. On January 9, 2025, Y/Project announced it was shutting down after 14 years.

The closure came during a broader downturn in luxury fashion. Major groups including LVMH, Kering, and Richemont had all reported earnings declines, making it an especially difficult time for an independent brand without a parent company's financial backing. Y/Project's collapse illustrated how a small, talent-driven fashion house can be undone by the loss of a single key figure.

The brand lost its operational anchor, then its CEO and designer, and no buyer emerged in a luxury downturn, closing after 14 years with 0 jobs preserved.

The death of co-founder and owner Gilles Elalouf in July 2024 removed the brand's operational and financial anchor

The subsequent departures of the CEO and creative director Glenn Martens left Y/Project without leadership or a signature designer

Receivership and a failed sale process in late 2024 found no buyer, in part because the broader luxury market was in a downturn

An independent fashion house can survive the loss of a founding designer, but the loss of the owner who held the business together can be fatal — especially in a contracting luxury market.

The brand's intellectual property and archives were not publicly sold. The closure reflected a broader contraction in the independent luxury fashion sector, where several brands without corporate backing struggled to survive the 2024–2025 downturn.