Yung Lean reveals his latest fashion venture

Swedes unite: footwear brand Eytys and Sad Boys music collective – rapper Yung Lean and producers Yung Sherman and Yung Gud – have joined forces to create a shoe dubbed “The Spider”.

The sneaker, which was designed in a collaborative effort between Eytys’ Jonathan Hirschfeld and Max Schiller and the alternative hip hop crew, will shortly be launched in a super limited run of 180 pairs.

For its accompanying campaign, Lean and his cohorts were captured by South African photographer and serial Eytys collaborator Kristin-Lee Moolman, who wanted to emulate a royal family portrait – the three pose in suits, in the room of an old palace in Stockholm. To make the images even more authentic, Eytys brought in Zac Arogundade (who belongs to the Sad Boys affiliated crew Gravity Boys) to style the trio.

“We’ve been fans of Yung Lean and Sad Boys for years,” says Schiller. “They’re one of the world’s most innovative and eclectic music acts, not to mention their unique personal style that we’ve always found inspiring. We’ve been talking about doing this collaboration since we started hanging out about three years ago.”

This collaboration is a natural pairing, particularly given that Yung Lean is considered a cult style leader and maintains a keen interest in fashion. When we ask him about his favourite designers, he quickly reels off an eclectic list of names. “David Lynch’s sportswear drop, Armani somewhere around 2000-2001, D.TT.K jewellery, and always great love for Tommy Hilfiger. Issey Miyake is great too,” he says. “(I love) random small accessories like LV keychains, souvenirs and bag charms; also rain pants and hobo gloves. Moonboots and big down jackets.”

Yung Lean’s approach to fashion is influential and represents an off-kilter, Tumblr-fied fusion of normcore, the noughties and the minimalist aesthetic associated with Scandinavia. “Let’s get rich or dress to impress, depending on the occasion,” he says of this approach. “I’m kind of into the style from The Wire Season 2, when they’re out by the docks.”

This isn’t the first time he’s appeared in a campaign however – earlier this year, he starred in Calvin Klein’s AW16 campaign alongside Frank Ocean, Kate Moss and Young Thug.

Available from December 1st from eytys.com