Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø love clothes. That might sound like a nonsensical statement when talking about fashion designers, but if there’s a distinct difference between clothes and Clothes, the design duo behind the Paris-based brand All-In are firmly in the capital C camp.
In the All-In universe, vintage finds are alchemised into one-of-a-kind treasures. Heels tinkle with supersized charms as you walk, bulbous masses of tinsel morph into festive ballgowns and balls of delicate Murano glass cascade as fringed decoration.
Barron and Vestbø not only craft, but actually wear, their own creations. The first time I met the pair at Copenhagen Fashion Week in 2022, I enviously spied their now signature Level Boots – shoes that are as wide as waders, grommeted and laced together. “Wearing everything ourselves has been influential and [gets us] thinking about what the experience of the clothes actually feels like,” Barron says, speaking from Paris in the lead-up to the brand’s SS25 show. “It’s one thing to think about an image, but it’s different to think about it as a garment that you actually get to wear every day, or for special occasions.”
“Every time you do a show, it pushes you a bit further. It solidifies this feeling that we’re going to continue.”
Benjamin Barron
All-In initially started life as a magazine launched by Barron in 2015. Vestbø joined as creative director after attending the launch of issue one. The foundations of the brand are visible in its 200-page themed tomes, in which flea market and charity shop finds are repurposed as styling for character-led editorials. The visuals are punctuated by various ephemera from erotic playing cards and candy wrappers to Post-It notes and photo prints. The latest edition, published in May, featured Lily-Rose Depp and Arca.
“The speed of fashion is one of the reasons it suffers, and why the quality and collections get bad,” says Vestbø. “It’s hard to be a great designer when you have to produce so many ideas, you get worn out. For us, having another outlet allows us to switch focus and try to explore ideas in a different context. It’s a bit of a research process for the next collection before we start working on designing again.”
Similarly to other growing independent brands like Chopova Lowena, All-In shows once a year – a strategy that alleviates both financial and creative pressures. “We wouldn’t be able to do two shows a year, it’s about finding a system that works for you,” Barron explains. “There’s no clear solution, but it’s about navigating this [industry] the best you can.” Besides, as Vestbø adds, “clothing is devalued so quickly when it should sustain value over time. We want to create designs that don’t feel out of date in a year.”
A year since their breakout SS24 collection — which had all the sassy energy of a 00s catwalk — SS25 marks a change in the designers’ point of view. “It’s the biggest collection we’ve done, so it’s amped-up a bit,” Barron says. “We weren’t making clothes for sale [before], but seeing people wear it has changed our perception that All-In is a brand that people wear in real life, and [should therefore work for] everyday life.”
SS25’s ingénue follows in the footsteps of beauty pageant queens, debutantes and last season’s imaginary pop star, Allina. “The collection is called ‘Uptown Girl’ and it started from watching Working Girl (1988) again,” Barron says. “But we also got inspired by many different types of characters along the way. Mostly New York characters like Carrie Bradshaw and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985).” With her “head for business and bod for sin,” the spirit of Working Girls’ Tess underwent an All-In makeover: think while sheer skirts embedded with strings of oversized pearls, tufts of polka dot tulle over sequin booty shorts, and recycled denim jackets courtesy of Guess USA repurposed into skirts. This time around, the signature Level Boots were relaxed and slouchy, while satin ballet pumps fused with strappy heels and misshapen Frankenpurses to combine three styles in one.
The collection marked a continued collaboration with stylist Lotta Volkova, who twists things even further. “She has a good understanding of wearability and has a strong idea of what she wants things to look like, it’s very instinctual,” Vestbø shares on the ongoing creative partnership. “Sometimes with our clothing you don’t really understand what’s going on — what’s a top, what’s a skirt — and she’s good at picking out what works well and then we elaborate on that. That resulted in a lot of exciting garments.”
Right now feels like a contemplative time for the design duo, and an opportunity to showcase their evolution over the last 12 months. “Every time you do a show, it pushes you a bit further,” Barron reflects. “It solidifies this feeling that we’re going to continue. It makes us push harder and push what our own perception of the brand is too.” Barron and Vestbø are already looking ahead to 2025, envisioning new ways to expand their offering and to get their clothes comfortably nestled in the wardrobes of their fans.
That’s an operation already well underway, as the duo are also fresh from hosting the first All-In pop-up event in Paris this summer. Amid all the stress and strategising, the IRL experience reminded them why they started making clothes in the first place. “When we were walking home on the second day, we saw a girl who had been there on the first day [of the pop-up] on the street,” remembers Barron. “And she was now wearing a full All-In look.” “It gave me so much joy that it was a stranger, not a friend or a celebrity,” adds Vestbø. “We went up to her and she said ‘I’ve been wearing it since yesterday and I never want to take it off!’”
Credits
Writer: Dominic Cadogan
Photography: Cristina Stolhe