Willie Norris and Outlier unveil co-branded collection

Brooklyn-based streetwear brand Outlier has unveiled its first co-branded commercial capsule collection with its design director, transfeminine fashion designer Willie Norris.

The debut eight-piece Willie Norris for Outlier collection offers a capsule of wardrobe essentials for summer 2023 and marks the first of six collaborative collections that will launch bi-annually through 2025.

The collections will “live within the framework of material-driven experimental menswear that Outlier has become known for since launching in 2008,” explains the brand in a statement. While also being a “distinctly personal offering,” as Norris serves as the designer, fit model and muse for all the pieces.

Commenting on the debut capsule, Norris said: “This first instalment of this collaboration, for summer 2023, is meant to capture the fluidity, modularity and particularity that lay as core tenets of my personal wardrobe and dressing style. This isn’t menswear, this isn’t womenswear. This is what Willie wears.”

The collection utilises long-standing Outlier fabric qualities, including Norris’ favourite Injex, a highly breathable Japanese polyester linen that has been used for apparel by Outlier since 2015. Norris has used the fabric for high-summer tailoring, including a longline blazer with a sharp-shouldered shape, rear welt pockets and 20 stainless steel shanks, and high-waisted, Japanese-workwear inspired Skyscrapers Pants with zippered mesh expansion pockets.

The collaboration also introduces new fabrics to Outlier’s material arsenal, using Acrsipcotton, a water-resistant cotton and polyester blend produced by Italian shirt company Albini for its longline short-sleeve button-up shirt, and Hempmarine Ventile, a Swiss-woven, dense and highly water-resistant organic cotton and hemp blend for its longline lab-shirt-coat silhouette.

The line also highlights “Willie Specials,” design details true to Norris’ style codes woven throughout the collection, including self-covered buttons, shoulder pads, red detail stitching, and subtle seam finishings.

Tyler Clemens, co-founder of Outlier, added: “The culmination of eight years of building in the Outlier universe of materials and focus on details comes to an apex as Willie presents a precise, studied offering of what Outlier is and how she sees it.”

The debut Willie Norris for Outlier capsule is available exclusively direct-to-consumers via the brand’s website, with prices ranging from 125 US dollars for a belt to 1,200 US dollars for the longline blazer.

The next capsule will be for winter 2023/24 and is expected in late 2023 and will consist of eight new pieces that build on the initial summer offering.