PALY: Hollywood, told through vintage-washed clothes
Some labels are built around a logo. PALY, the Los Angeles brand that also goes by Paly Hollywood, is built around a place and its mythology. Its clothes borrow from the history of Hollywood, the glamorous version and the less polished one, and wear it like a well-worn souvenir. This season PALY arrives at ANSH46 for the first time, with a small selection now in our Rotterdam store.
Who is behind PALY
PALY was co-founded by Kyle Lindgren and actor James Franco. Rather than describing itself as a fashion house in the classic sense, the brand talks about a "bespoke approach to storytelling at the intersection of art, entertainment, fashion, and culture." In practice that means garments that reference Hollywood's past, present and future, often through graphics that look as if they have been passed down rather than bought new.
Lindgren has described the project as "exploring the underbelly of Hollywood through a contemporary lens." Highsnobiety has called the label a "grunge-luxe" brand, pointing to its faded, distressed graphics and its affinity with the smoky Sunset Strip club scene that places like the Viper Room came to stand for. Within a few years PALY has become one of the most talked-about emerging names in Los Angeles, and its releases tend to move quickly.
Clothes that look lived in
The appeal of PALY is in the finish. Designs are printed so they look hand-drawn, and pieces go through distressing and washing processes so they read as authentically vintage. Lindgren has said the clothes are "meant to be worn, lived in, and shaped by the person wearing them." It is a familiar idea in Los Angeles streetwear, but PALY treats it with a collector's eye: the reference points are films, posters and characters, not just faded band tees.
That cinematic thinking runs through everything the brand does. One of its best-known pieces, a limited T-shirt for Emerald Fennell's film Wuthering Heights, started life as a wrap gift for the cast and crew. The artwork, by Franco, drew on the poster for Samuel Goldwyn's 1939 adaptation of the novel, before the shirt was released to the public.
Campaigns made like films
PALY's campaigns are closer to short films than to lookbooks. Lindgren has explained that the people the brand casts are chosen for "what this person represents", and its lookbooks have featured a young generation of Hollywood names. Eric Roberts starred in the brand's SS26 campaign and returned to narrate the FW26 campaign film, which was directed by Pietro Coppolecchia. The film follows a French couple in a surreal house, a slightly dreamlike setting that fits the brand's interest in Hollywood as a kind of myth.
PALY at ANSH46
Our first PALY delivery keeps things simple and wearable. The selection centres on pieces made in the USA:
- Maintenance Sweatpant in Vintage Black, the washed-out black that suits the brand's vintage finish best.
- Maintenance Sweatpant in Green, the same easy sweatpant in a colour that stands out a little more.
- OJ Manson Baseball Hat in Navy, a one-size cap and the most direct way into PALY's graphic world.
Quantities are small, so sizes are limited.
How to wear it
PALY works best when the rest of the outfit stays quiet. Wear the Maintenance Sweatpant with a plain heavyweight tee and a pair of chunky runners for a weekend look, or dress it up slightly with a washed zip hoodie and a leather jacket on top. The vintage black pairs easily with other faded pieces, from RHUDE graphic tees to washed black denim, while the green works well against grey, cream and black. The OJ Manson cap is the finishing piece: low-key enough for every day, with just enough Hollywood in it to start a conversation.
Taken together, the pieces show what PALY does well: clothes that feel as if they already have a story, with the Hollywood references worked into the finish rather than shouted on the surface.
Shop the full Paly Hollywood collection online, or come and see the pieces in person at our store on the Van Oldenbarneveltstraat in Rotterdam. For more Los Angeles labels, read our story on RHUDE.