April 29, 2025 |
Looking for menswear that stimulates the senses, Olly Shinder is the place to find it. Showing as part of the legendary talent incubator Fashion East over the last two years, the 25-year-old has found clever ways to strip workwear and military garb of their overtly masc codes, sexing things up in the process.
“I’ve always been obsessed with uniforms. I find endless inspiration from them,” says Shinder, who calls me from his studio. He’s well versed in peppering all things butch with a fetishistic garnish. Think the sort of garb you wear in a lab (aprons, hazmat suits) repositioned as flesh-coloured latex girdles and buttoned-up tracksuits, or high-vis jackets that could taking you from the building site to the bedroom.
“When I am designing them for men, I think, ‘Is this sexy?’ There’s often been a contradiction in my life about, on one hand, loving designer clothes, but I also find the idea of a guy who loves buying designer clothes quite an unsexy type of guy,” he continues. Instead, he often mines his own wardrobe for inspiration, having first fallen in love with workwear after seeing it on boys parading around Berlin dance floors, going on to secure a year-long placement at Swedish workwear factory Snickers during his student years.
“What I wear is quite hyper-masculine and quite basic. I often look at a piece that already exists and challenge myself in how I could make it look like a designer piece, which is a more elevated idea that holds conceptual value rather than transforming something you might find in an army shop.”
It’s an instinctive approach that caught the attention of Dover Street Market in the very early days of Shinder’s namesake label, which is now part of the family of young brands supported by the concept store. “They were the first store to take a bet on me, it basically launched me as a business,” he says. “They are very nurturing and kind people and have constantly given me support, whether it’s creative advice, business advice and keeping me as a valued member of their community.”
Shinder’s SS25 collection, he says, was “a uniform proposal for some sort of strange summer camp”. He took a series of male archetypes, like scouts and soldiers, and dissected each in an Olly-fied way, introducing womenswear into his arsenal for the first time too.
“I’ve always been quite safe in a menswear space. I’m a man, I know my body and I never really made much womenswear when I was at Saint Martins,” he says (Shinder graduated in 2022). “I think I always knew that I had it in me [to do it]. [The] summer ’25 [collection] definitely showed a building step towards what our womenswear is leading towards.” While this collection was fantasy-fuelled, his AW25 outing – unveiled in February – was a uniform grounded more in reality. The most elevated expression of Shinder’s wardrobe to date, he shifted his utilitarian codes into more formal territory. There were hand-quilted silk organza skirt suits, military-style overcoats and calf-length apron dresses, alongside impressive wipe-clean macs and hulking donkey jackets. On the catwalk and in everyday life, his clothes are worn by his extended creative community, many of whom feature here.
Olly wears OLLY SHINDER
Lulu Kennedy, director of Fashion East
How did you meet Olly?
We got chatting in the smoking area of a queer nightclub and hit it off.
Favourite thing about him?
Obviously his very fab clothes but also his entire lovely vibe and outlook on life.
Best memory together?
Sat at our favourite corner of Bistrotheque’s bar [in Hackney] with him and [the designer] Asai having the best chats and laughs ever. I thought to myself, I bloody adore you like little siblings.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Hot, clever, precise.
Raphaelle Moore, head of projects at Fashion East
How did you meet Olly?
When he first came in for an interview at Fashion East HQ after applying for our support. He’s so personable and real, I warmed to him straight away.
Favourite thing about him?
He’s very positive and always sees the best in people, he’s not judgemental.
Best memory together?
When we sauntered home together after a Nike summer party and spoke about life, work, boys and all sorts of silliness.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Sexy, functional, desirable.
from left: Lulu and Raphaelle wear OLLY SHINDER
Wolfgang Tillmans, artist
How did you meet Olly?
At East Bloc, an Old Street club that no longer exists.
Favourite thing about him?
His fetishistic eye for detail.
Best memory together?
Doing nothing.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Sparkling, stubborn, sensual.
Wolfgang wears trousers by OLLY SHINDER
Ferdinando Verderi, creative director
How did you meet Olly?
Through Wolfgang [Tillmans] at his MoMA opening.
Favourite thing about him?
He doesn’t take anything or anyone for granted.
Best memory together?
We are both late-night phone-call types, so that’s when we chat.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Four words – best yet to come.
Ferdinando wears OLLY SHINDER
Nick Landon, product developer, production and press manager at Olly Shinder
How did you meet Olly?
On my first day at the company. There wasn’t a huge amount of time to get to know each other properly at that moment, there was too much to do! Since then we have filled in the gaps…
Favourite thing about him?
His sense of humour.
Best memory together?
Aside from the shows, it must be the unforgettable party he threw during Frieze week and seeing the CDG show together during men’s week in Paris last June. That’s a few memories but they are all up there.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Confounding, transgressive and remarkable.
Mel Hewgill, atelier manager at Olly Shinder
How did you meet Olly?
When I applied for an internship at the brand in the spring of 2023.
Favourite thing about him?
His enthusiasm for his craft. I love when he gets really excited about a new development or piece.
Best memory together?
One of my best memories is when we were working late the week of the SS25 show and he made the whole studio sausages and mash for dinner!
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Considered, evolving, inimitable.
from left: Nick and Mel wear OLLY SHINDER
Michael Bullock, writer, editor and documentarian
How did you meet Olly?
At a party in NYC celebrating the five-year anniversary of Kendall Werts’s talent agency.
Favourite thing about him?
A fun-effortless combination of deviance, confidence and charm.
Best memory together?
Figuring out how to enjoy a space-cowboy themed circuit party together.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Commanding, fetishistic, precise.
Michael wears OLLY SHINDER
Rukiah Zakaria, art consultant
How did you meet Olly?
Through friends and family.
Favourite thing about him?
His heart!
Best memory together?
Anything to do with us eating or cooking – our Christmases are always very special and food really makes us bond.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Considered, playful, innovative.
Rukiah wears OLLY SHINDER
Yaz XL, stylist and designer
How did you meet Olly?
We were in the same class at CSM and were like brother and sister.
Favourite thing about him?
His audacity and pure heart.
Best memory together?
Doing the White Show project in the first year and coincidentally him making an inflatable, massive dick while I made a look with an inflatable, massive pair of tits and bum.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Strong, sensitive and technical.
Yaz wears OLLY SHINDER
Mahoro Seward, fashion features editor at British Vogue
How did you meet Olly?
It was in 2018 or 2019, very much in passing, at Cocktail d’Amore, a party in Berlin that – back when it was at the sadly since shuttered Griessmuehle – was one of the city’s most characteristically debauched and legendary. We properly met, though, when I was again visiting Berlin a couple of years later and he was renting the spare room of a dear mutual friend of ours, [the artist and designer] Filip Samuel Berg, while he was interning at GmbH.
Favourite thing about him?
He’s unwaveringly kind, conscientious and caring, qualities he frequently and generously demonstrates. He also has a wicked, often-inappropriate sense of humour that almost trumps mine, and loves a good bitch as much as I do.
Best memory together?
There are many to choose from – some of which I’d rather not put in print – but one that stands out would be his last birthday dinner, lovingly and lavishly catered by another of his dearest friends, Rukiah Zakaria. It was chic, intimate and indulgent – an apt embodiment of Olly’s best sensibilities.
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Technical but cunt.
Mahoro wears OLLY SHINDER
Jebi Labembika, photographer and creative director at Nuba
How did you meet Olly?
Through the Central Saint Martins foundation [course].
Favourite thing about him?
His passion and ambition.
Best memory together?
The time we ran into each other in Marrakesh randomly!
How would you describe Olly’s work in three words?
Cunt, cunt, cunt.
Jebi wears OLLY SHINDER
Taken from 10 Men Issue 61 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
THE OLLY WAY
Photographer ROXY LEE
Fashion Editors OLLY SHINDER and YAZ XL
Text PAUL TONER
Talents OLLY SHINDER, YAZ XL, MICHAEL BULLOCK, MEL HEWGILL, NICK LANDON, RUKIAH ZAKARIA, FERDINANDO VERDERI, MAHORO SEWARD, JEBI LABEMBIKA, WOLFGANG TILLMANS, LULU KENNEDY and RAPHAELLE MOORE
Fashion assistant GEORGIA EDWARDS
Set design HARRY EZZAT
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU and SONYA MAZURYK
Special thanks to CHLOE LONG and RAVEN
