In an interview with L'OFFICIEL, designer Maxwell Osborne talks about COVID-19, family heritage, and his new brand anOnlyChild.

Photographed by Bon Duke

Designer and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/public-school-forgoes-fashion-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Public School</a> co-founder Maxwell Osborne set out during the worst of the pandemic to do some soul searching. &ldquo;The idea of death was top of mind all the time&hellip;It was dark and I wanted to do something playful,&rdquo; he explains.
And he did: <a href="https://anonlychild.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anOnlyChild</a> is Osborne&rsquo;s new label, inspired by his Jamaican heritage and his family in London and New York. The new label is rich, textured, and unexpectedly colorful&mdash;something that Osborne, 39, has not been known for in the past. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s brought some type of joy, at least creatively. It&rsquo;s interesting to play with these things that I never wanted to play with in the beginning, because I personally don&rsquo;t wear colors or brights at all,&rdquo; he says.

But even a staunchly <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/how-to-wear-monochrome-winter-2021-color-trends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">monochromatic dresser</a> can admit when it&rsquo;s time for a change. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the idea of no rules,&rdquo; he explains, adding that watching his friends shift their office uniforms to sweats and denim was proof enough that workwear was in need of a little reimagination. In the relaxed silks, electric colors, and even the casualness of the collection&rsquo;s more formal pieces (a short-sleeved blazer, loose-knit sweaters, and puddling <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/how-to-style-runway-inspired-wide-leg-pants-fall-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wide-leg pants</a>), Osborne introduces a sense of style that, while elegant, is at ease with itself.
The designer first presented the collection in September 2021 to a small group of friends and family at his family home in Mount Vernon. Absent were any of the usual media attendees you&rsquo;d find at a debut&mdash;this was a celebration for his community. Osborne adds that it was old family photos that served as his primary source of inspiration.&ldquo;
Even with all the darkness, Jamaica is still known as a very happy place,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Growing up [there, my family] didn&rsquo;t have everything, but their clothes were always pressed. They had to go to school with their <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/how-to-style-pleated-skirt-fall-winter-2021-olivia-rodrigo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">skirts pleated</a>, the uncles had to go with their shirts pressed, and they always found joy in that.&rdquo;

Sitting in his apartment, thinking of the &ldquo;plethora of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/dior-b30-sneakers-mens-spring-summer-2022-kim-jones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sneakers</a>&rdquo; he now owns, Osborne was struck by the progress that can happen in just a single generation. And yet, progress doesn&rsquo;t always equate to satisfaction. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re looking at everything you have. You&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not even happy.&rsquo; So you want to get back to this point of being happy and not caring and having this playful vibe.&rdquo;
So, has the debut of anOnlyChild led Osborne to newfound contentment? Yes and no. &ldquo;Honestly, that was just a taste, and we have a long way to go,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;My brain hasn&rsquo;t even processed the fact of happiness. It did the day of [the show]&mdash; because I drew off of other people&rsquo;s happiness, I felt happy. I took their energy about it more than my own.&rdquo;

"The idea was top of mind almost all the time&hellip; it was dark and I wanted to do something playful."

Osborne notes that the reverberations of the pandemic still linger, and he&rsquo;s still navigating the fallout while in the process of creating. &ldquo;Some things are very clear in terms of what the brand stands for in the community,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;Sometimes the aesthetic is clear, but then little things are not. You want more, but then you don&rsquo;t have more. My inspiration is the streets, and energy, and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/top-11-winter-vacation-spots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveling</a>, and I&rsquo;ve done very little of any of that.&rdquo;
Still, if diving into a new creative project wasn&rsquo;t an immediate salve for the real pains of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/post-pandemic-dresscode-statement-dressing-maximalism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the pandemic</a>&mdash;lost friends and family members included&mdash;it did offer at least a new creative flow for Osborne. &ldquo;Everybody expects you to deliver, and I get it: four times a year; big collections. But if you can&rsquo;t draw the inspiration, then it&rsquo;s forced.&rdquo; So, the designer is setting the rules of creation himself. &ldquo;All the mills were closed [during the pandemic]. Even if you wanted to reach out to recycled mills and fabric textile places, they were all closed.&rdquo;
That required thinking outside of the proverbial box of brand building. Osborne began collecting scraps of fabric from designer friends and experimenting with needle punching, a method of combining fabrics to make a non-woven felt that Osborne had used previously at Public School while working with Eileen Fisher.
&ldquo;I would have never done that if there wasn&rsquo;t COVID. I would not have thought [about] making a silk in a denim, needle punching it, and making fabric and pants or a jacket out of it. It would never have happened. But you had to take whatever you had to create something new.&rdquo;

The resulting collection, while technically made sustainably, is not presented as &ldquo;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/adidas-sustainable-fashion-pop-up-new-york-city-vintage-upcyle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sustainable</a>.&rdquo; To Osborne, reducing waste and approaching a new collection in a conscious way are requirements, not additives to tout. &ldquo;Trying to lessen our footprint and be socially conscious is just what we have to do, and to talk about it all the time kind of feels like a gimmick when it&rsquo;s just something that should be top of mind.&rdquo;
Still, can one grow a collection of uniquely crafted garments into a global phenomenon? The balance of building buzz and keeping a certain level of preciousness is one that Osborne is still trying to achieve, namely through gut instinct. As someone who is admittedly &ldquo;not a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/parker-kit-hill-tiktok-style-coach-spring-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a> person,&rdquo; Osborne has tasked himself to push the brand forward in an authentic way. During <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/new-york-fashion-week-star-studded-events-parties-kendall-jenner-818-tequila-rodarte-dionlee-diesel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Fashion Week</a> in February, he explored the intersection of fashion and art, presenting a gallery exhibition titled &ldquo;Borrowed Crowns&rdquo; in collaboration with hat designer Gigi Burris.
&ldquo;Obviously, if you do something you want more people to see it and wear it,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But in this day and age with social media and so much access, I kind of want to make it personal and keep it close. You want to own something as much as you can.&rdquo;

Public School's Maxwell Osborne Opens Up About Starting His New Label AnOnlyChild

Tags

Related Articles

Fashion

30 Black Designers Who Shaped Fashion History

Fashion Week

5 Young Designers to Watch at New York Fashion Week

Fashion

LVMH Announces 2022 LVMH Prize Semi-Finalists

Recommended posts for you

Music

Tate McRae Announces 2025 Tour, Drops New Single

Fashion

Dior's Lady Art Project Returns With Stunning Artist-Made Bags

Pop culture

20 Rare Photos of Young King Charles III: A Look at His Earlier Life

Fashion

Skims Teams Up With Dolce & Gabbana for a Luxurious Collaboration

Fashion

Meet Tanya Taylor's Alter Ego: Delphine, a Muse for NYC Night Owls

Fashion

Demi Moore Wows in Gothic Sheer McQueen Dress at 'Landman' Premiere

Fashion

How to Wear Barrel Jeans Like a Celebrity

Shopping

Fall 2024's Must-Have Scarves: Cashmere, Wool, and Statement Picks