Hardcore raver: How Jonty K. Mellmann's garments became a diary of U.K. subculture
With pieces seen at squat parties and on FKA Twigs, meet the designer-DJ whose upcycled garments cut and sew British rave culture into its seams
Jonty Kristian Mellmann is an iam's cat - or at least this is how the 28-year-old fashion designer and artist, currently based in deep East London, introduces himself. Whilst comparing himself to a cat food brand might seem confusing, it's exactly the kind of surreal, off-beat and nostalgic reference that defines his clothing line: a 'darkly splendid' patchwork phantasmagoria with inspirations as diverse as a Lutheran church in Tottenham, UK Garage, ice cream van graphics, and Noddy.
Mellmann's first ventures into designing and creating garments began at home in Buckinghamshire at sixteen, screenprinting band patches of punk and grunge bands Siouxsie and the Banshees, Mudhoney and Trash Talk to sew onto battle jackets. "The first things I sold were some crusty patches to someone I met at a hardcore punk gig," Jonty explains.
Image credit: Jonty photographed by @delphino_productions_
From there, he went on to make clothes for himself and friends, but the real turning point came during the time he was working retail at Cyberdog and studying Fashion Design in London, where he sold pieces at a squat sale organised by artist Solomon Garçon; “that is when I really thought maybe people that I don’t know would actually be interested in, buy and wear my Monstrosities!”
Now his clothes can be found at Hyfae, Fantastic Toiles, and Wsiura in Berlin and have found their way onto the bodies of a refined selection of creatives, including musician FKA twigs and DJ Princess Julia.
Image credits: FKA Twigs in ‘ERGOTISM’ Wrap Skirt, by @charlottemwales for the FACE (Left) wearing C.R.A.P Records tee (Right)
His garments - which draw on an amped-up grungey aesthetic featuring neon tie-dye, collage patchwork and gothic lettering with "a juicy rave-core flavour." - are almost all one-offs and small runs. He's not interested in mass production, and most values the idiosyncrasy of what he calls 'crustomised' pieces. "I don't really like doing favourites as I am very 'one god, no masters,'" he says, "but I think the triple-kneed trousers I made for my graduate collection are hard to top. More recently, the Noddy ultra-combat trouser." - a combat-style trousers out of children's bedsheets."I try to keep it practical and hold myself to a high standard of quality to offset the clear levels of insanity present in my work."
Image credit: Installation for @fantastictoiles
It's a collection heavily influenced by rave and club culture, with insider references and knowing nods to rave history woven throughout his garments (read more about why he sews the number 23 onto his pieces). Just look at his collage t-shirts - "they are pretty much all stupid jokes," he laughs. Mellmann is also a DJ - his Hardcore/Bassline record label Countryside Rave Art Project (or C.R.A.P Records) turns five this August - an artistic practice that he sees seep into both his stylistic choices and the making of garments themselves. When making clothes, "I cut, sew, stick, drape, stitch and mish-mash them up like a seriously ADD breakcore tune into something equally barmy and hopefully beautiful," he says.
Rave culture "has given me so much life, love, and countless hours of dancing in pure ecstasy," says Jonty, and has fostered what he describes as 'an obsession' with certain genres of music. "I've worn out the soles of many shoes on many dance floors and forged many very great friendships in the fires of some sweatbox, distant field or decrepit warehouse." Jonty's personal style has also been shaped by club subcultures, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of underground scenes that punctuates every conversation. His current look? "That of a depressed crusty cowboy" - one person at the free party UKTek in 2023 shouted "Oi, Seasick Steve!" as he walked to get a snack. He wears "a mix of things I have made, military surplus and classic English country clothes, usually camo, drab, washed out colours." But he "used to be - in my head at least - a gothic hardcore warrior," he says, "an actual Slimelight (the iconic London goth club) goth blended questionably with a fantastical hardcore warrior look" - an gabber subculture based around the legendary gabber venue Club Number One in Italy.
While influential for his brand identity, Jonty is candid about this period being a difficult time:"That was me going mad basically - I realise that maybe I was using drugs to wrongly escape my emotions. It brought about an intensified grief about the death of my nan, may she rest in peace, and in turn confusing myself very much," he says. He even "gave a speech from the Bible whilst I had devil horn hair at her funeral, it was quite insane."
Image: Hardcore Warriors Tee patch detail
"The clothes reflect it - they were the best of times and worst of times." Some of those ideas are reflected in the 'Hardcore Warriors' tee made for Hyfae and will be "frozen in perpetuity" in his upcoming photobook from his Confusion/Diffusion line, '23 Hardcore Ravers.'
Nowadays, what is he listening to in the studio? A balance of experimental ambient artists Current 93's 'Thunder Perfect Mind' and Nature and Organisation's 'Snow Leopard Messiah' on repeat. The brand is equally inspired by gabber, breakcore, and speedcore - experimental, high-octane genres whose influence is visible in Mellmann's avant-garde use of imagery and materials.
Image credits: “MAD DOG” 3/4 Rave Floral Madness Shorts, photographed by @rachelcolless in Gravy Magazine (Left) TieDie Longsleeve Top styled by @matthew_josephs for Replica Magazine (Right)
As for other inspiration, Jonty pulls references from classic menswear staples, English country clothing, and military surplus. At the moment he is most inspired by Kurt Schwitters - known for his work as part of the Dada movement, but also "a very skilled portrait and landscape painter, as well as someone who turned his various homes over the years into living breathing works of art, aka the 'Merzbau'...
Image credit: Kurt Schwitters, Merzbau, photographed by Wilhelm Redemann, 1933 © DACS 2007
To me he seems like a real tinker, tailor, soldier and spy who was really rather fly," Jonty explains. "The lack of distinctions between mediums, as well as hoarding of trash to turn into treasures I find relatable…
When asked about the future, in characteristic fashion, Jonty says he hopes to "focus on more wearable design, and still this English countryside, militaristic, fun and ravey attitude with a slightly more universal appeal," adding, "so that one day I can live on a farm and tend to my flock like the good shepherd so often spoke of." Whether he means a literal farm or a more conceptual haven, it's yet another example of the intoxicating imaginary world spun out from each garment, where sustainability and imagination forge a striking, experimental way of engaging with fashion, subcultures, and the planet as one.
Image credits: Flower Power TEKNO Camo Hoodie (Top left) UK Garage Tee (Top right) Dayvian Sweatpant 23 (Bottom left) “Jesus is Lit” Tee (Bottom right)