Founded by Claire Yurika Davis in 2013, London-based label Hanger has amassed a cult following thanks to its subversive latex creations – think cinched-in blazers, slinky, split-to-the-hip pencil skirts, and form-fitting wide-leg flares, all rendered in the fetishistic, wipe-clean material. 

Now, in bittersweet news for fans of Hanger, Yurika Davis has revealed she’s ready to step away from the label to concentrate on other things, but before you freak out about where you’re going to get your rubber fix from now on, the designer isn’t looking to close its doors. Instead, she’s on the hunt to find a successor to take the reins and make Hanger their own – and it could be you. 

“I’ve been threatening to do this for a long time, but until this year it didn’t quite feel like the right time,” Yurika Davis explains of her decision. “In the past year I’ve gone through some pretty intense changes, and whichever way I cut it, I realised that making clothing and running a brand just wasn’t what I wanted to do any more. It takes a real amount of energy and determination to keep a young brand going, and to be honest, I just don’t have that any more.” 

Closing out her reign at Hanger will be tenth and final collection, Sayonara Slutz! – “Releasing a super slutty final collection feels like the perfect way for me to end on a real positive” – as well as a limited edition print, the proceeds from which will go to charitable causeWomen for Refugee Women. Beyond that, the following season is in the hands of whoever comes next. Something that Yurika Davis is keen to stress, however, is that she doesn’t necessarily see Hanger’s future limited to just clothing.

“I have no idea what to expect, and that’s what’s exciting! There are so many possibilities I feel like I’m standing at a junction of infinite pathways,” she explains. “I definitely think Hanger could be anything; in the realms of music, community projects, creative networks, it could be taken over by a collective or an individual. I’m open to literally all ideas, as long as they’re good. At Hanger, we’ve carved out a wonderful little place in the world for ourselves – we want someone to continue playing in it, but we’re totally open to them changing the game.” 

Though Yurika has plenty of happy memories of building Hanger from the ground up – “Drinks with my team! Summer in the studio when we did minimal work, played music and then went to the park! And our parties! My season eight Sleepy Chan party was actually the last time I saw my dad alive. He was so proud of everything I was doing with the brand, and I’m so glad he got to come and join one last time” – the designer cites herself as pretty unsentimental when it comes to her creative work. 

When she was first thinking about closing Hanger, she was firm on the idea of shuttering it completely, but as time went on she began thinking about something she says to people ‘all the time’. “Death is a door,” she says. “And actually what I want to bury could actually have a rebirth if sown in the right soil.” 

With Hanger opening up to applications this week, you can send your pitches and ideas to Yurika Davis here. Ideas from Black and QTIPOC will be considered first and foremost.