Passarella Death Squad

Passarella Death Squad’s intense and slightly macabre t-shirts are stocked far and wide but designers Danny Broddle and Emilie Albisser, who established PDS in 2004 are ready to spread their wings with their S/S 10 collection. This will be their first ready to wear collection for both men and women where in addition to the tees, shirting, knitwear, trench coats and biker jackets also stand very well on their own. PDS’s unique selling point is that whilst they wave the flag for British production, they champion imported Japanese fabrics that are all custom made for them. So we have denim that is manufactured by Canton (Japan’s first denim producer ever), Japanese drum dyed lamb’s leather and unique fabrications that elevate the humble t-shirt. We spoke to Broddle to find out more about this change in direction as well as the music side to Passarella Death Squad.

Dazed Digital: What prompted you to create a fuller range of RTW for PDS?
Danny Broddle: It was the next step for us, we always wanted to progress into a fuller range. It was just a case of finding the correct production and fabric to create it and the correct time to launch it.
 
DD: What is so special about the Japanese fabrics that you use?
Danny Broddle: In some cases the fabric is specially produced just for us
but apart from that exclusivity we love to work with them. Their fabrics have an amazing handle and look that we feel is unique to us.
 
DD: What was the inspiration for this season's collections for both men and women?
Danny Broddle: The thinking behind the collection is control. Every piece in the collection is a fray between controlling fabric on the body and allowing
it to drape as if it has just fallen there. The outcome is a balance of this tension.
 
DD: Tell us a bit more about the Canton denim you use?
Danny Broddle: Canton jeans themselves have the honourable reputation of being Japan’s first denim producer. We’re using a lightweight overdyed Japanese denim that we feel perfectly matches our collections aesthetic.
 
DD: How is the music arm of PDS going - plans for more releases?
Danny Broddle: We’ve recently released two 12 inches, ‘Painted Yellow, Painted Black’ and ‘Those are sirens’ both gaining fans such as DJ Hell, James Holden, Troy Pierce, Dj Chloé and JD Twitch. Our debut album is due out in early 2010, engineered by Tim Holmes of Death in Vegas with artwork coming from M/M Paris to be released on The Republic Of Desire Recordings. Live dates will also start around then plus with a few musical collabs happening as well.