Complex Co-Signs: Proleta Re Art Is Crafting Bespoke Pieces Coveted By ASAP Rocky, 21 Savage, and More
We spoke to the Japanese label's mysterious founder, Prot, about the custom Boro garments designed for celebrities like ASAP Rocky, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, and more.
‘Complex Co-Signs’ is a monthly feature that will highlight up-and-coming or under-the-radar creators within the style space that we are personally fans of but may fall outside the realm of our regular news cycle. Hopefully, it will help you discover a new brand or learn more about someone that you’ve already taken a liking to. Whether you are familiar with them yet or not, these individuals are surely worth keeping up with.
While many Japanese brands and designers have re-popularized “Boro” (the Japanese fashion practice of upcycling garments made from vintage textiles), none have captured as much attention recently as Proleta Re Art, a Japanese label crafting some of the most eye-catching distressed garments today. Secret chemical dyes, painstaking embroidery, and hours of sewing are what give Proleta Re Art’s garments a distinct patina that has been coveted by celebrities like ASAP Rocky, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, and more.
“By ‘hacking’ materials such as used clothing and fabrics through repairing, customizing, and vintage processing, we reincarnate them as art and breathe new life into them,” says Prot, the pseudonym of the mysterious 35-year-old designer behind Proleta Re Art. “When it breaks, we fix it again. But we don't just fix it; we repair it by adding a design. I wanted to make clothes that not only change over time, but also have taste.”
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