L'Officiel Philippines chats with Coleen Aytona, the up-and-coming label's founder and designer.

It was the simultaneous gloss and strength of materials like resin and vegan patent leather that drew Coleen Aytona, the young designer behind up-and-coming label YEEN, to chisel clothing out of things normally used for furniture and home d&eacute;cor. "I want the materials I work with to be distinct and uncommon, to better distinguish my brand&rsquo;s style&hellip;[they&rsquo;re] impressive to me because they mimic the look and feel of a sculpture, but they&rsquo;re also more time-consuming to construct with and prepare, compared to regular fabrics." The give and take, she believes, is worth it. YEEN is, after all, the realization of a long-winded dream; in fact, the brand takes its name from Aytona&rsquo;s childhood moniker.

Having already gained attention for a previous drop featuring pieces crafted in a sensory mix of ribbed knits, pastel organdy, and glass-like discs, Aytona's textural choices continue piquing interest. YEEN&rsquo;s latest collection brings to mind the 1960s&rsquo; fascination with retrofuturism, building on fevered mid-century visions of space colonies and flying cars. Think of these as clothes The Jetsons would perhaps wear &mdash; an asymmetrical top done in a honeycomb of acrylic squares and silver chain rests over sheer flared trousers, while slick, trapezoidal, cutout vinyl minidresses in sorbet hues are current crowd favorites.

"Using resin was a lightbulb moment for me, because it&rsquo;s usually used for things like home decor, accessories, and furniture instead of couture," Aytona muses. "I wanted to construct with a material whose color I could experiment with, and which I could mold into different shapes. Patent leather was very popular in 60s fashion, my favorite era, and I wanted to work with a material that was widely used back then."

Aytona admits that, for her, fashion became an escape, as it&rsquo;s been for so many fellow designers. "When I started my latest collection, I came up with the story behind it first," she shares. "[It] revolved around a summer dream sequence, and it played out like a series of episodes in my head, with images of fields, flowers, sunsets, and dancing around. The final output was a series of short films about my collection: four episodes of a woman unintentionally travelling between dream worlds, dazed by the changes in location, dressed in YEEN."

"Because COVID was already a reality by then, I wanted people to forget about lockdowns for a moment, and just imagine what summer might feel like," she says. It's a sentiment anyone can wholeheartedly relate to.
Shop YEEN's new collection <a href="https://yeen.com.co/">here</a>.

Summer With YEEN Involves Retrofuturistic Frolicking

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