Giving things a new perspective for the season, LES BENJAMINS chose to look into something more abstract and aesthetically distant instead of the pre-existing notions of Earth and its far-flung locales. “First Wave”, the Istanbul-based brand’s Fall-Winter 2023 collection, was given this direction by the brand’s Creative Director Bunyamin Aydin. The pieces come crafted with protective elements in mind, with second-skin type body armor, padding, and technical military silhouettes in leather, silk, and crepe juxtaposed by hardware and functional tech details, thus engulfing the collection with a vibe like no other. Patches, tubes, and drawstring elements in oversized slouchy rave-style silhouettes in turn added their special touches to the creations as the base color palette works its charm. The latter takes a melancholic turn across both men’s and womenswear with deep shades of mahogany, swamp and sylvan green — but flashes of abstract neons and acid-washes in over-exposed Pantones set a cyberpunk tone to the collection as a gentle symbol of humanistic hope set across a dystopic backdrop.

Imagining a world where a new tribe has formed in the desert, “First Wave” aligns with the brand’s commitment towards community, reflecting a kind of nostalgia for the past and the East, but with a resilience towards the future.