The xx celebrate 10th anniversary of debut album with Raf Simons collaboration

It’s been a whole 10 years since The xx dropped their self-titled debut and to celebrate their 10th birthday (HBD, babes), the group have teamed up with fashion designer Raf Simons to create a limited edition capsule collection that’s been inspired by the album!

“The album xx represents a very distinct sensibility linked to youth culture at the time,” Raf says of the collaboration. “It succeeds in articulating and putting into words what is going on in the minds of kids when they’re dealing with love, heartbreak, friendships. And not in the stereotypical way, it seemed much more real in a way. More authentic.

Working with the guys has been so amazing and so easy to do at the same time. We have worked together before, of course, and I just think we are already quite attuned to each other in the sense that we know very well what we want and what we can offer each other.

When they reached out to do something together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of xx, I didn’t have to think twice. I have been a fan of theirs since the very beginning, and I’m so happy and grateful for the fact we became friends and got to collaborate in so many ways”

Featuring imagery from the original album art, the collection will include t-shirts, patches, a cap and a set of pins, and will be available to buy from The xx’s website from 12th December.

Speaking on working with Raf, Romy adds, “I was introduced to Raf’s work through the collaborations he had done with other musicians. How he wove bands’ work into his work really excited me. I hadn’t seen that so much; it felt like an homage to merch while being something completely new and different.

We met Raf for the first time in 2014 when he invited us to play at The Guggenheim in New York for Dior. Obviously, it was the most incredible invitation to receive. We had a fun time and went out after the show when we had the chance to talk to each other. We felt an immediate connection. I thought that he was a very emotionally intelligent person and I really enjoyed talking to him. I felt really close to him from the beginning. He had such an in-depth, thoughtful, considerate and meaningful intent. I love that about him: nothing is flippant, everything comes really from a thought-out and cared-about place.

The concept of the DIY aspect in the 10th anniversary merch collection, using patches and pinning them on yourself, is something that feels very teenage to me. This links nicely with the first album - we were teenagers when we wrote the songs, and I was definitely doing that kind of thing with what I was wearing. I got in trouble at school because I was cutting up my uniform. My dad once got a voicemail from school saying “She looked like she was going to a rock concert”, which I thought was hilarious. I love that Raf wanted to combine those ideas from him collection into our collaboration”