Justin Tapley
Oct 21, 2025
Fashion Styles from Music Culture
Every brand has a rhythm, but few are built from sound itself.
LML Clothing by Halfwait, founded in 2022 by musician and creative director Jonathan Barca, approaches design as composition a process guided by tempo, tone, and emotion.
Rooted in Sydney’s independent music scene, the label translates its founder’s experience in songwriting and performance into a visual language of form and texture.
In a market often driven by noise, LML speaks quietly yet clearly, proving that style can have its own sound.
Origin and Ethos
The connection between music and fashion has always been present, but for LML Clothing, it is foundational.
Barca, frontman of the alternative rock band Halfwait, began designing clothing that captured the same authenticity as his music.
During the band’s early tours, he realised fans were drawn not only to the songs but to the energy behind them, the lived experience of independence, resilience, and creativity.
LML was born from that energy.
Its name, Live My Life, taken from a Halfwait song, became a creative compass for the brand.
From stage to studio to design table, the process remains the same: build something honest, refine it until it feels true, and share it with the world.
Theme Focus: Music as Design Language
At LML, music is more than inspiration, it’s a design framework.
Each collection starts with rhythm.
Cuts and proportions follow the cadence of sound: the relaxed drop of a bassline, the precision of percussion, the layering of melody.
These elements translate into shape, fit, and texture.
Barca describes design as a sonic translation.
“We build the garments the same way we build songs,” he often explains.
“Everything has timing, from stitching to structure.”
The brand’s creative team uses this rhythm to guide every release, ensuring cohesion between the music that drives LML and the clothing that carries its message.
This method gives each collection a sense of harmony, a balance between sharpness and softness, silence and movement.
It’s design that listens as much as it speaks.
Value and Cultural Impact
Publications such as Flaunt Magazine, PAUSE, and EARMILK have recognised LML’s ability to bridge creative disciplines. Their editorials highlight how the label uses music not as branding, but as architecture.
Each drop feels like a new verse in an ongoing song, building the brand’s identity one release at a time.
This approach positions LML as a cultural hybrid part streetwear brand, part creative collective.
It operates at the intersection of sound, design, and storytelling, giving it credibility in both music and fashion circles. That dual presence has become a defining feature of its wholesale and cultural partnerships, where authenticity and creative integrity are as important as product.
Founder Voice
“Music and design are the same language, just in different forms,” says Jonathan Barca. “
You feel rhythm in both in the tempo of a stitch or the pause between sounds.
LML exists in that space between.
The goal is to make people feel something, even in silence.”
Barca’s words capture the brand’s deeper intent: to design clothing that communicates emotion without relying on spectacle.
His perspective reinforces why LML’s minimalist aesthetic feels alive, because it carries the texture of sound, even when unspoken.
Community and Engagement
LML’s musical DNA shapes more than its products.
Through LML Records, the brand releases compilation projects that align with fashion drops, creating multi-sensory storytelling moments.
The music sets the emotional tone for each collection, sometimes energetic, sometimes reflective while editorial visuals mirror the atmosphere of the sound.
The brand’s audience responds to this connection intuitively.
Fans of Halfwait engage with LML through music videos and live performances, while fashion audiences discover the music through editorial collaborations.
This crossover builds a shared cultural ecosystem one where clothing, sound, and storytelling reinforce one another.
Closing
For LML Clothing by Halfwait, music will always be more than a backdrop, it’s the rhythm behind everything.
Every collection begins with a note, every design carries a beat, and every editorial becomes part of the brand’s ongoing soundtrack.
By treating music and fashion as equal creative forces, LML has found a language of its own, one defined not by volume, but by tone, feeling, and flow.
In a world of constant noise, it stands as proof that style can move quietly yet still be heard.
About LML Clothing by Halfwait
LML Clothing by Halfwait is an Australian streetwear label founded in 2022 by musician and creative director Jonathan Barca, frontman of the alternative rock band Halfwait.
Based in Sydney, the brand merges minimalist design with music, sustainability, and responsible production.
Its collections are distributed globally through selective wholesale partnerships and supported by cultural storytelling through LML Records.
Learn moreLML Records