It was a particularly horrendous spate of knife attacks in the UK in 2019 that inspired Idris Elba with an urgent purpose. He posted “a bit of a rant” in an Instagram video, in which he says: “You're just gonna stab your future if you go and stab someone else. You become a murderer, you go to prison, you ain't got shit. For what? For some beef that lives within your community. You need to see past that.” Both widely picked up across the media and praised by campaigners, Elba’s Hollywood-burnished intervention drew fresh attention to a toxic problem within British society.
“I was incensed about the lack of care and attention that people were showing about knife crime,” Elba says. He wanted to do more, and he ultimately arrived at the idea for a clothing brand that could raise awareness. He launched his brand, Don’t Stab Your Future, or DSYF, that same year. “There seemed a clear intersection between being able to communicate with people through clothing and messaging something that needed to be messaged.”
This Friday, Elba will launch the newest DSYF capsule, a collaborative collection designed in partnership with the young Congolese artist Hilvy Soh. It will be presented at Soh’s first solo exhibition during Art Basel Paris. Elba says the pieces combine DSYF’s existing “Aura Man” motif — the beatific outline of an aura-defined human form — with Soh’s “Mazola” series artwork, adding, “It's beautiful. And for me, it's a proud moment. Here are two African men, one from this part of the world, who managed to avoid violence and who are creating together in order to raise awareness.”
Like all previous DSYF collections, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to organisations and individuals Elba feels are strongly aligned with the brand’s core message. Past partners have included the campaigner Faron Alexander Paul, and the charity Street Warriors. DSYF is also, Elba says, working to launch a film-making competition for schools linked to the brand’s central tenet. “We don’t take any profit,” he adds. The capsule will feature sweatshirts starting at £100, hoodies at £150 and jackets priced from £200.
DSYF originally sprang forth as a single-collection offshoot of 2hr Set, a brand Elba launched in 2018 “as my DJ apparel line”. Before Elba found global fame as Stringer Bell in David Simon’s The Wire at the turn of the millennium, he was already an active DJ. He continues to play sets, and had a residency at Hï Ibiza (formerly the late-lamented Space), this summer. 2hr Set is currently in partial hibernation in the physical world, but in the digital space has established itself as a popular brand of “swag” in the NBA 2K gaming franchise. “We’re slowly taking the time to work out how to amplify it further in that space,” Elba says.
For now though: “Don’t Stab Your Future is what we’re focusing on taking forward. Aura Man is part of that, and DSYF is essentially the brand name.” Elba’s partner in the venture is the stylist Cheryl Konteh: the two work with a design team.
The Soh collaboration, says Elba, will be one of DSYF’s last before it enters a new stage of production: cut-and-sew. Future collections will be a crossover of leisurewear and sportswear, says Elba, and fall into the category “masstige-luxe”. “I don’t want it to be overly expensive, and to be for people who want to wear nicely designed, quality clothes and contribute to and support a wider cause.” Elba adds that the first DSYF cut-and-sew collection will include both womenswear and menswear.
One of Elba’s proudest achievements so far with DSYF came in January this year, when Arsenal Football Club walked out for an FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest wearing an all-white strip. This was part of a “No More Red” initiative created by DSYF in collaboration with Arsenal and its current kit partner, Adidas, which aims to tackle the root causes of youth violence. He says: “That was a great moment, a very smart activation between three powerful brands that served as an innovative way to touch some hearts and get people thinking. Because football, more than any other sport in the UK, touches the most people.”
Even if this is a fashion interview, it proves impossible to resist discussing Elba’s main line of work. I mention that I am currently rewatching The Wire’s first season, released in 2002, with a 16-year-old first-time viewer who is very curious about the clothes. Elba says: “I remember at the time there had been this upsurge in Black-owned fashion brands — Akademics, Sean John, Fubu, to name just a few — there were all the sweatshirts, and all this velour, and that is the era that the clothing came from.”
The Wire spoke about a specifically US cultural context, in which the prevalent weapon with which people damage each other is the gun. Does Elba think the DSYF ethos can translate? “There is definitely an international ambition with DSYF,” he replies: “And I think it represents an ethos that goes across many territories.”
The brand and its precursor, 2hr Set, are not Elba’s only ventures in the fashion industry. Along with his wife, Sabrina, he has co-created two collaborative collections with Christian Louboutin, which Elba says has raised over €3 million for charities.
“I don’t consider myself as a Virgil, or a designer, or anything like that,” said Elba. “But, as an actor, I understand that these tools can be useful. Our aim is to build a fashion-purpose brand.”Read more at:formal dresses in adelaide | red formal dresses australia
“I was incensed about the lack of care and attention that people were showing about knife crime,” Elba says. He wanted to do more, and he ultimately arrived at the idea for a clothing brand that could raise awareness. He launched his brand, Don’t Stab Your Future, or DSYF, that same year. “There seemed a clear intersection between being able to communicate with people through clothing and messaging something that needed to be messaged.”
This Friday, Elba will launch the newest DSYF capsule, a collaborative collection designed in partnership with the young Congolese artist Hilvy Soh. It will be presented at Soh’s first solo exhibition during Art Basel Paris. Elba says the pieces combine DSYF’s existing “Aura Man” motif — the beatific outline of an aura-defined human form — with Soh’s “Mazola” series artwork, adding, “It's beautiful. And for me, it's a proud moment. Here are two African men, one from this part of the world, who managed to avoid violence and who are creating together in order to raise awareness.”
Like all previous DSYF collections, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to organisations and individuals Elba feels are strongly aligned with the brand’s core message. Past partners have included the campaigner Faron Alexander Paul, and the charity Street Warriors. DSYF is also, Elba says, working to launch a film-making competition for schools linked to the brand’s central tenet. “We don’t take any profit,” he adds. The capsule will feature sweatshirts starting at £100, hoodies at £150 and jackets priced from £200.
DSYF originally sprang forth as a single-collection offshoot of 2hr Set, a brand Elba launched in 2018 “as my DJ apparel line”. Before Elba found global fame as Stringer Bell in David Simon’s The Wire at the turn of the millennium, he was already an active DJ. He continues to play sets, and had a residency at Hï Ibiza (formerly the late-lamented Space), this summer. 2hr Set is currently in partial hibernation in the physical world, but in the digital space has established itself as a popular brand of “swag” in the NBA 2K gaming franchise. “We’re slowly taking the time to work out how to amplify it further in that space,” Elba says.
For now though: “Don’t Stab Your Future is what we’re focusing on taking forward. Aura Man is part of that, and DSYF is essentially the brand name.” Elba’s partner in the venture is the stylist Cheryl Konteh: the two work with a design team.
The Soh collaboration, says Elba, will be one of DSYF’s last before it enters a new stage of production: cut-and-sew. Future collections will be a crossover of leisurewear and sportswear, says Elba, and fall into the category “masstige-luxe”. “I don’t want it to be overly expensive, and to be for people who want to wear nicely designed, quality clothes and contribute to and support a wider cause.” Elba adds that the first DSYF cut-and-sew collection will include both womenswear and menswear.
One of Elba’s proudest achievements so far with DSYF came in January this year, when Arsenal Football Club walked out for an FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest wearing an all-white strip. This was part of a “No More Red” initiative created by DSYF in collaboration with Arsenal and its current kit partner, Adidas, which aims to tackle the root causes of youth violence. He says: “That was a great moment, a very smart activation between three powerful brands that served as an innovative way to touch some hearts and get people thinking. Because football, more than any other sport in the UK, touches the most people.”
Even if this is a fashion interview, it proves impossible to resist discussing Elba’s main line of work. I mention that I am currently rewatching The Wire’s first season, released in 2002, with a 16-year-old first-time viewer who is very curious about the clothes. Elba says: “I remember at the time there had been this upsurge in Black-owned fashion brands — Akademics, Sean John, Fubu, to name just a few — there were all the sweatshirts, and all this velour, and that is the era that the clothing came from.”
The Wire spoke about a specifically US cultural context, in which the prevalent weapon with which people damage each other is the gun. Does Elba think the DSYF ethos can translate? “There is definitely an international ambition with DSYF,” he replies: “And I think it represents an ethos that goes across many territories.”
The brand and its precursor, 2hr Set, are not Elba’s only ventures in the fashion industry. Along with his wife, Sabrina, he has co-created two collaborative collections with Christian Louboutin, which Elba says has raised over €3 million for charities.
“I don’t consider myself as a Virgil, or a designer, or anything like that,” said Elba. “But, as an actor, I understand that these tools can be useful. Our aim is to build a fashion-purpose brand.”Read more at:formal dresses in adelaide | red formal dresses australia