Jamaican born, New York-based designer Tyrone Smith established his label Musty in the Fall of 2021 and is quickly becoming a figure to watch. The brand’s punchy moniker is derived from a phonetic word that connotes smell and is often used as a derogatory term in Jamaican households. Too, the brand is focused on challenging existing perceptions of Black culture through the incorporation of political and artistic references that reframe narratives in an intelligent, and wholly fashionable, manner.

The emerging designer’s debut ready-to-wear collection, entitled ‘The New Regime,” played with dramatic, oversized proportions seen through an undying emphasis on craft. The five-piece collection was primarily crafted out of natural fibers like wool and bamboo cotton and utilized a Japanese dying technique called Susuzome—a process where soot dye is kneaded in the fabric and then dried in the sun to create a distinctive color.

Silhouette-wise, the workwear-infused offering looked to military uniforms and Japanese kimonos as inspiration, updating those references through voluminous shapes and intricate detailing unique to the brand. The collection had deeper connotations, too, that went past sculptural know-how all of which helped to reimagine the concept of ‘The New Regime’: a concept Smith dubbed in order to celebrate and honor those oppressed globally.

The collection’s most popular option ‘La Lune,’ is a dynamic, painterly two-piece suit with one-of-a-kind details like buttons made from melted gunmetal and hand-dyed cotton twill. The intricate suit certainly showed off Smith’s design chops while tiered tank tops, double-usage sleeves, and distorted trousers re-upped his layered inspirations.

Off the heels of ‘The New Regime,’ Smith is gearing up to present his latest collection during New York Fashion Week, of course, continuing his label’s focus of self exploration and cross cultural know-how. And if his debut collection is any indicator, we are certainly in for a treat.