Everything
Just after a year since the launch, Swedish menswear label Namacheko is being stocked in over 38 retailers world wide including Dover Street Market, Ssense and Opening Ceremony. One of select few labels that gains industry recognition, they don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Brother-sister duo, Dilan and Lezan Lurr launched Namacheko in January 2017 with an Iraqi bridalwear-inspired collection and began working with Belgain production and distribution company Gysemans Clothing Group — a longtime producer for Raf Simons and Kris van Assche. Shortly after the launch, Namacheko found its way into Paris Men’s Fashion Week with an off-schedule show – the designer’s family members wore the clothes on the runway, along with street-cast models.
“We presented the first collection about a year ago and didn’t expect to sell it,” says 29-year old Dilan. “It was very spontaneous, it was more about putting a spotlight on my cousins and their life in Kirkuk.”
Instantaneously, the collection caught the attention of Parisian boutique The Broken Arm and the duo were invited to show at Paris Fashion Week Mens’ that June — this time on the official schedule.
The Lurrs immigrated to Sweden with their parents in 1997 and later studied engineering and art. The minimalistic label and its overall aesthetic stems from their Kurdish background and European upbringing, experimenting with different social and stylistic queues. The family struggled with cultural identity during their childhood, and ultimately formed the design principles for the label.
“People were amazing, but you’re different and you want to be Swedish just like them, you don’t feel that proud to be Kurdish,” Dilan says. “At a certain age, with all that was going on with the Kurdish area in Iraq, all of a sudden you feel proud about what your people do.”
After the launch of the Spring/Summer 2018 collection, retailers begun to take notice and the label grew to 19 stockists. The newest collection, Autumn/Winter 2018, is inspired through political references and the shaping of identity. “You’re safe in your identity and country,” says Dilan. “It’s a romantic aesthetic that we want to move into step by step.”
