JANE WADE: The Commute

Her SS24 collection consisted of a total 23 looks, all based on unique personality archetypes. From “the office flirt” to the “the publicist” to the “the podcaster” and everything in between, each model had a very important role to play whether at, or headed to, the office. Adorned with jewelry created by Martine Ali, each look exploded with a confidence that I’ve only ever seen New Yorkers bring.

Partnering with IMG and Salomon, Wade’s NYFW debut collection modified practicalities and turned them into trendsetting looks. The Commute was memorable and strong — another victory for Jane Wade.

You showed in February for the first time and just debuted your first show on the official NYFW line-up. How does it feel to see it come to fruition?

It feels amazing to know you can truly achieve anything you want if you dedicate yourself to it and work hard. All the hours I’ve dedicated to this craft and finally it’s paying off is a feeling I can’t quite describe, but it continues to inspire me to move forward. Truthfully what I’m most excited about is an opportunity to highlight all the collaborators that continue to contribute to my vision, like my Hair Artist, Skye Melena, who has developed all the key hair themes you've seen across my projects. We really push the envelope on POC hairstyles previously deemed unprofessional for the workplace; think braids with outlandish designs and Durags. Also Tre Crews who directs most of the visuals for my projects. All I can hope for is a pathway forward where this can continue to be financially sustainable for us all and I can continue to be in a position to lift people into these spaces with me.

You've nurtured such a beautiful community of talented people around you who are rooting for your accomplishments. Do you feel supported?

I often say our accomplishments lie in what we believe we’re capable of. Having people that push you and support you to try new and frightening endeavors is rare and essential to success. I’m lucky to have so many amazing mentors in my life cheering me on. Katie Simcox, who was a mentor of mine from my days at Wang through working at Danielle Frankel is a huge support and sounding board to me. She taught me everything I know about development and production. Ultimately her mentorship single handedly prepared me for this pathway to launching my own brand. Martine has also been a huge support to me across the entirety of my career from my time working in corporate design to launching the brand. It feels natural to work In collaboration with her every season in a moment to mutually leverage and establish our places in the New York market. Ultimately, working alongside her allows me to pay homage to my own professional development, & our love for handcraft and jewelry making backgrounds. How did the theme for this runway show come to you? I love the idea of juxtaposing your clothes with these timeless archetypes because it only heightens the appeal of the actual garments. A key theme in my work is dismantling what’s deemed professional in the workplace. “The Commute” was a kind of play on words of the transitions we have to make working in corporate structures to our personal identities when we clock in and out. This dichotomy of commuting your personality, and physically commuting to and from work lent a really fun foundation to build the collection theme and archetypes around. I’m always visiting my fantasy office within my work by dissecting who these people are and where they’re going. This also helps me stay focused in a commercial lens within the development timeline. We often link a character to someone in our tight circle because it immediately activates the attitude or energy of them. This season we had “The Publicist” who was an avatar of my own publicist Anthony Brooks. It’s a fun little inside joke we all get to share together while assigning this character a real personality. We also had “The Freelancer” cosplaying as me (holding a giant keychain with all the keys to the various studios I work within as a freelance designer) and “The Creative Hire” as the one and only Joe Van O, who came equipped with Joe's G-Shock and his own personal pair of Salomon Snowcross.

From the accessories to the art direction, all I can say is that you really know how to put on a show! Is there a movie that you think about when you look at your SS24 collection?

This season I built the concept from the ground up with my amazingly talented stylist, Joe Van O. We utilize fashion archive films a lot in our research and development process. We spent months developing the themes and character archetypes for this collection. At least once weekly we would order take-out and stay up until 3 am watching fashion films in preparation for this show, often including me sketching in the background and Joe compiling visual research for the lighting and creative treatments. Some of the films we watched were American Psycho, Kika, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover & Shanghai Express among many, many others.

I'm excited to see what you do next season. I know you'll be having a showroom in Paris at the end of the month as well right?

Yep, we’re going to be showing in Paris for Market at the end of September which will be my first time participating in a Paris Market for my own brand & a really exciting first step for me!! We have the calendar packed out so I’m hoping for a really successful 2nd wholesale season ahead.