Elena Velez’s Wasteland Heroines

February 16, 2023

Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and focused on “romanticized abstractions of Middle America”, designer Elena Velez continues to examine American subcultures through favored archetypes of “wasteland heroines” from the Midwest over the typical and tired depiction of “the glamorous American woman." For Elena Velez’s latest fashion show this week, titled “YR003: HOWS MY DRIVING?,” the 2022’s Emerging Designer of the Year Award winner referenced “agrarian brutalism, puritanical cults, and disorderly anabaptist youths."

Elena held the show around the corner from her studio in Greenpoint, bringing the fashion set from the stereotypical venues often visited during fashion week. Refreshingly anti-traditional, Elena had Tei Shi, Eartheater, Siiickbrain and Mia Carucci walk the runway. Transforming the usual runway into performance art through theatrical, emotive model walks, and generally making bold, hyper-stylized statements with her shows, Elena brings something interesting and meaningful to NYFW and the CDFA — dismissing elitism and perfectionism, and making room for what else exists outside coastal, major metropolitan life.

Text by Audry Hiaoui
Photos by Matthew Weinberger

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LỰU ĐΑ̣Ν has unveiled a collaboration with Bruce Lee Enterprises, released in conjunction with AAPI Heritage Month and the brand’s tenth collection, All Bets Are Off. Long positioned as a foundational influence for founder Hung La, Bruce Lee’s image, philosophy, and self-determined approach to identity have remained embedded within the brand since its inception. Drawing from Lee’s athletic uniforms, 1970s tailoring, and iconic film imagery, the collection merges LỰU ĐΑ̣Ν’s darker visual language with the unmistakable style of the martial arts legend. Key pieces include a reworked version of Lee’s yellow jumpsuit, graphic ringer tees, and accessories informed by archival film materials.

Rather than recreating Bruce Lee through casting, the campaign works directly with his original image archive, using AI-assisted digital manipulation and retouching to place the collection onto Lee himself, collapsing past and present into a new visual interpretation. What emerges is less a retrospective than a continuation, positioning Bruce Lee not simply as inspiration, but as an enduring framework for self-definition, resistance, and image-making within the world of LỰU ĐΑ̣Ν.

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Louis Vuitton is All Fun and Games

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The Louis Vuitton 2026 Resort Collection takes on the spirit of summer holiday. The ready-to-wear wardrobe offers looks for every summer outing from morning yoga at the beach to cocktails at sunset, spanning a neo-sixties colorway, crafted leathers, ocean-blue floral motifs, sand-colored canvases, playful graphics, and frolicsome silhouettes. The hallmark items of this collection are undoubtedly the bags, offering something fun or sophisticated for all arrays of summer babes. The limited-edition Ace Ball is reminiscent of a volleyball, because what other sport exists so specifically for sunset beaches? Serve, set and spike over the net behind a row of California-style bungalows, which the collection also replicates in their Bag-Alow.

LV Cube necklaces embedded with colorful rhinestones draw inspiration from the House's archival Pateki game, an avant garde puzzle game originated by Gaston-Louis Vuitton. Clearly, this collection is all about fun and games, leaning into the stress-free peace and joyful recreation only summer can bring. The collection is eternally youthful and beating with life, a manifestation of how this year's summer season will be. Whether your an athletic surfer or a tanning beach babe, a local bungalow dweller or a travelling tourist, let Louis Vuitton set the stage for your summer days.