Yard Act have joined forces with Manchester based independent clothing brand Blue Flowers to launch a new limited-edition line of clothing.
Available to pre-order now, the new range is fully designed in collaboration with the Leeds indie band, and stock is limited.
A variety of new items have been launched for the collaboration, including a staple of the band’s early days: a trench coat.
Singer James Smith became synonymous with the look during the band’s first few releases, always sporting the outerwear during live shows and photoshoots. In 2023, the band even spoke about putting the look to one side, and released a song called ‘Trench Coat Museum‘.
For the new collaborative design, the trench coat comes adorned with paintings of each band member on the inside lining by the singer.
Other items in the range include a denim jacket and an earflap hat. The collaboration with Blue Flowers comes on the heels of Yard Act recently releasing their acclaimed third album, ‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’, and the first 100 fans to order the trench coat or denim jacket will receive an original print of the new album artwork signed by the band on heavyweight 325 GSM art card.
Visit here to browse the range and place pre-orders.
The paintings of the members inside the trench coat were done by the frontman, and are the latest of his artworks to be made available to the public, following two of his paintings being put on display at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition until August 23.
Back in 2023, Yard Act spoke to NME about their hometown residency at the Brudenell Social Club, where they were joined by the likes of Nish Kumar, CMAT and Phill Jupitus – and all came together to cover Chumbawamba‘s hit ‘Tubthumping’.
Speaking about their then-upcoming single dedicated to the frontman’s trench coat, and how Smith frequently wearing it made it start to “symbolise” something to them.
“[‘Trench Coat Museum’] basically about ego, perception, ownership and recognition. I started writing it when I realised what the trench coat had come to symbolise,” the singer said. “There were multiple people who had gone to fancy dress parties as me, wearing just a trench coat and glasses. That’s funny itself, but I realised how much I loved it but that it had become a cloak to protect me so that I could be this amplified and more obscene version of myself for performance. I’d take the trench coat off and just go back to being me.”
“The first trench coat I wore belonged to Ryan and I took it off the coat rack before the first gig we played. He was like, ‘Are you wearing my coat?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, it’s funny isn’t it?’ It was a joke and a trope of what post-punk is. I loved it and felt more confident,” he added.
“I was also thinking a lot about why I was obsessed with my own image. I was looking at pictures of myself and seeing what other people see. They see this character and cartoon that I leant into. When you do, you get more out of it. That’s the thing about pop culture: oversized characters get more attention. I was ready to step away from that because I didn’t want to be trapped by it. We have a lot more to give than we’ve given so far.”
‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’ dropped earlier this month and was given a four-star review from NME, which described the band’s third album as seeing them “hone in on their truest form”.
“Yard Act have never been short of stuff to say, but after all is said and done, perhaps the titular takeaway is to open up our own ears,” it read. “It’s a mantra that our hot-headed, opinionated world could do with acting on, whether that’s taking some occasional advice from Janey – or simply just soaking in ‘a little music’.”
Ahead of the release, the band also spoke to NME about the message behind the songs and their take on the current political climate in the UK.
“I would have many issues with [new PM Andy Burnham stepping in to take over from Keir Starmer],” Smith shared. “I would not be celebrating, but I absolutely know with certainty that whilst we live in a first-past-the-post system – and whilst Zack Polanski is not polling [well enough] – I would do anything to keep fascists out.”
“The division of the left is harrowing. We can’t agree on anything. I do not see Andy Burnham as a shining beacon of hope, but I do see Nigel Farage as a dark, dark entity that must be struck out at all costs.”
Yard Act aren’t the first band to team up with Blue Flowers for a collaboration – back in 2024 Pete Doherty and Carl Barat designed two new Libertines-inspired jackets exclusively for the menswear brand.
