Local designer teams up with Lincoln Motor Company to create menswear collection

lmost two years ago, Detroit fashion designer William Malcolm wrote on his vision board that he would design a men’s formal wear line for Lincoln Motor Company, and he had faith that his vision would come true.

“I wanted to work with Lincoln Motor Company because I really liked their design aesthetic, and their whole quiet luxury piece,” Malcolm says.

Not long after this declaration was made, the vision came true.

While attending Fash Bash, the Detroit Institute of Art’s annual fashion event for which Lincoln Motor Company was a sponsor, Malcolm was inspired by the 2016 Lincoln MKZ to replicate the car’s design into a suit.

“I just emailed some images and some sketches of what I was doing and asked if they had any issue with it, and I was just blown away at how welcoming they were,” Malcolm says. “They said ‘sure go for it,’ so I designed the suits for the Lincoln MKX.”

Malcolm showcased his MKX-inspired suit on Fox 2 News, and a year later, Lincoln came to Malcolm with a project to design a suit collection based upon the 2017 Lincoln Continental. They recently launched the new collection at a fashion show in Atlanta, for which Malcolm designed a custom suit for Grammy-nominated singer Mali Music.

“The thing about a suit that is so powerful is that everything on a suit has a purpose. Everything. There’s nothing extra on a suit,” he says.

With Detroit known as the automotive capital of the world, Malcolm looks at his collaboration with Lincoln as a giant step toward making Detroit a fashion capital too. Malcolm says he plans to one day bring a world-class fashion show to Detroit.

“There's no stopping where we’re going, Malcolm says. “We have all of the ingredients to really have a dynamic flourishing fashion industry here.”