Bruce Davidson's "Brooklyn Gang"

The idea to create YONY was brewing for years before actually launching. When I started to work on the brand full time, about a year ago, the source for our aesthetic always came back to 1950s Americana.

When people hear the word "Americana" the first things that usually come to mind are boots, sandlewood candles, flannel prints, etc. - essentially that lumberjack look. This is why we're extremely careful using that word and why Bruce Davidson's work, "Brooklyn Gang", had so much influence in zeroing in on what we stand for - a refined take on Americana.

In a world where streetwear has become so widespread in menswear, I felt this was the perfect time to introduce a brand that provides a fresh alternative. Yet, it's not easy to create an image that draws on a certain era and modernizes it in a way that isn't derivative of that time period. YONY is an extension of myself - the attitude and aesthetic that I'm personally intrigued by.

Bruce Davidson's "Brooklyn Gang" embodies the look and feeling that I always saw as "cool". My dad grew up in Brooklyn, NY during the same time period and he has always embodied what I saw as cool. This work captures the style and rebelliousness of its subjects, but also simultaneously makes light of the emotional struggles they were dealing with. Overall, his images from this series exemplify the 50s vibe we are drawing upon in our contemporary take on this era.

-Johnny