Streetwear with a sense of humour – new to MR PORTER.

No Vacancy Inn is hard to pin down. Despite being listed, as of this week, as one of the designers on MR PORTER, the term hardly does the nomadic radio station/global party collective/all-round creative platform justice. Perhaps that’s because its founders, Mr Tremaine Emory (aka Denim Tears) and DJ Acyde, also defy categorisation. They’re the men responsible for the clothes under the No Vacancy moniker that you’ll find below, but to call them fashion designers would be missing a trick. By turns creative consultants, marketing experts and influencers whose work weaves through the worlds of fashion, music and art, the duo met in London and launched No Vacancy Inn in 2016 and count A$AP Rocky and Mr Kanye West as close friends. They have worked with some of the most notable names in streetwear, from Stüssy to Mr Hiroshi Fujiwara, are known for throwing notorious parties and even have a podcast. “We roll light-hearted with a heavy metal,” says Acyde when considering what sets No Vacancy Inn apart.

Acyde, a former marketing manager for Nike, grew up in London. Mr Emory grew up in Queens, New York, and moved to London in 2010 to work for Marc Jacobs, before returning to the States to live in Los Angeles. The two met over a shared love of cigars, started throwing parties in east London together and have been creative partners ever since.

The duo have collaborated with Some Ware, the brainchild of musician and artist Mr Brendan Fowler and photographer Mr Cali Thornhill DeWitt. Some Ware is an LA-based label known for graphic prints and a punk-like sensibility. Some Ware and No Vacancy Inn met through mutual friend Mr Virgil Abloh in Paris. “It’s always fun to collaborate with people you easily connect with and truly admire,” says Acyde. “Some Ware are those guys. We’ve been working together for a couple of years now and there’s more to come as long as time, life and inspiration stay on our side. Brendan and Cali are so forward thinking, but present and relaxed at the same time. It’s always amazing to work, roll and hang with them.” Mr DeWitt agrees. “This collab for me was about working with people I want to roll with and get to know better anyway,” he says. “The inspiration comes from that, from that day, from the moment.” The result is an exclusive collection for MR PORTER that comprises hoodies, T-shirts and caps that capture that “light-hearted heavy-metal” thing. In other words, these are streetwise clothes with a sense of humour.

Now for a more pressing question: why does everything have the word “octopus” on it? “The octopus thing came alive in a little house in Silverlake we were all in one day,” says Mr DeWitt. “You know the octopus is the most nimble animal? We should all strive to be more nimble in our approach to living.” And so the back of the long-sleeved T-shirt is replete with anecdotes about nimble octopuses that have made headlines for their intelligent and mischievous behaviour.

“I don’t think this looks like anything else out there,” says Acyde of the collection. “The simplicity is the point, but it’s also highly deceptive. It’s not tonnes of graphics or imagery just for the sake of design. It’s an inverted camouflage.” Says Mr DeWitt: “The great thing about them is if someone else made them I’d still wear them.” But they wouldn’t be quite the same if they’d been made by someone else. The men behind these clothes are exactly what makes them cool in the first place.