Office Wraps New York Fashion Week

February 15, 2023

From the shows scattered across the city to the afterparties, the ridiculously-priced ubers, and the general chaos that emerges when fashion fanatics come together, something about this fashion week felt especially absurd. Every show, whether drawing inspiration from more personal experiences, or examining deeper existential questions, sparked a dialogue around broader social issues.

As trite as it is to say so, fashion is a form of communication, and by the end of the week, it was clear, every designer had something important to say. From Collina Strada and Private Policy, who had fierce animal transformations strut down the runway to reveal humanity's disconnect from their more animalistic past to PRISCAVera, who continued to dismantle the fashion codes that define what constitutes as appropriate dress, necessary conversations bubbled up to the surface.

Kim Shui and Tia Adeola captivated us with presentations that celebrated bodily autonomy and freedom through the female form, while Elizabeth Hilfiger's Foo and Foo and Hanako Maeda's ADEAM took us on nostalgic trips down memory lane. Wiederhoeft's Eurydice, explored dualities such as fate versus free will and Pornhub presented Luis de Javier's debut New York runway show, a dante-esque presentation that brought heaven and hell to NYFW. Finally, Denzel Dion's first runway show for NOID took us to church with a collection that tapped into his religious Ghanian upbringing.

Text by Sahir Ahmed, India Espy-Jones, Marisa Kalil-Barrino, and Meyme Nakash
Photos by Dario Castillo, Matthew Weinberger, Randy Brooke

Read below for some of the shows we covered this season.

A--Company

Since founding the company in 2018, designer Sara Lopez has taken an intellectual and analytical approach to her work informed by her research of queer studies, identity, and clothing's purpose in society. The collection she presented on Sunday night at an LGBTQ+ community centre in the West Village was inspired by a line in Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's book, Novel Gazing: Queer Readings in Fiction, which reads, "the caress is not a simple stroking; it is a shaping." A continuation of A--Company’s interest in fashion codes, Collection IX examines what tailoring's biases reveal about our dependence on one another, as well as, the clothes we wear. The clothes were shaped, and warped to symbolize an embrace so deep it becomes an act of absorption. Two lovers kissing so intensely that they fuse and become one.

Sara blurs the limitations of the body with a series of twists, contractions, inflations, frays and swallows–states that insist motion and progress but also necessitate disorder. Sara's expertise is the tailoring of garments which such precision that her hand is virtually invisible. Wool coats hungrily devour each other. Arm holes annex new territory creeping down towards the heart. Hems spill their guts–transforming the knife pleat of a pant into a wave of fringe. Outwear looms large. Jackets arrive both stuffed full and gutted-showcasing their balloon-like potential. The shaping becomes as legible as the shape. SA

Photos by Matthew Weinberger

Jane Wade

In a note to office culture and the fashion industry, emerging designer Jane Wade dismantled the question, "What constitutes professionalism at work?" in her Autumn/Winter 2023 collection on the second day of NYFW. Just steps away from our own office, the presentation consisted of seventeen unconventional looks to wear at work. As we entered the building and folded into our seats, a brown paper clipped file stamped with “Jane Wade” fell open to a single document: “Too often, corporate creative structures counterproductively dictate who we’re allowed to be at work, slowly stripping us of our true expressive identities."

The collection promoted the need for transparency and ability to be your true self whether in or out of office. Framed by twisted and draped button-ups, under boobs were subtly exposed, which has become a Jane Wade signature. Utilitarian and more conservative styles were juxtaposed with details often considered unsuitable for the workplace—under boobs, face piercings, sharp, distorted silhouettes. Jane reminds us that it's crucial to be able to be yourself at work. IEP

Photos courtesy of Jane Wade

Khaite

For Khaite, a cashmere cardigan and bra set that went viral in 2019 was just a stepping stone to its project for subversive minimalism. Since its launch in 2016, the brand has successfully carved out a space in luxury for statement pieces that double as wardrobe staples—earning designer Catherine Holstein the title of CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year. This past Sunday marked yet another milestone for Khaite, with the opening of its first-ever storefront in Soho and Autumn/Winter 2023 show, “Balance of Power.”

The collection of bold outerwear marries familiar silhouettes with unfamiliar materials, proving yet again that Khaite has mastered the art of the unexpected. Each layer, from rounded trousers to maxi coats to plush shearling heels, tells another story of transformation which mirrors the label’s evolution through the years. The sleek space—designed by architect and Holstein’s husband Griffin Frazen—is defined by concrete and steel, and ultimately set off by deep greens which add an elemental quality to an overall neutral palette.

In a sea of New York labels that presented at fashion week, Khaite set itself apart by streamlining the avant-garde. It is through Khaite’s mastery of materials and daring spirit that it continues to supersede notions of seasonal wear, prompting our curiosity for what this next chapter holds for the brand. MN

Luis de Javier

On Tuesday, February 14, at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, Pornhub Presented Designer Luis De Javier’s Debut Runway Show for NYFW. The much anticipated runway included Julia Fox, Lourdes Leon, Eartheater, Asa Akira, Natassia Dreams and Pornhub Aria, as well as models Georgia Palmer, Alton Mason, Fernando Casablancas, and more. The show explored the lives of characters as they descend upon New York to follow their dreams and the roads they walk from the darkness of the city's underbelly to the diabolical heights of fame and success.

Dramatic and distressed gray leather is printed onto vegan leather, in collaboration with Kornit. Then the accessories of spiked masks and fully embellished headwear set a futuristic warrior tone with layered chains and signature eyewear. Latex and leather are featured throughout the collection with sharp shoulders, corsetry, and trains, with copious exaggerated hemlines, in a color palette of plum, metallic silver, blood red, and deep black. SA

Photos by Dario Castillo

Puppets and Puppets

Fashion, art, and food aficinados alike were drawn to the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building on 1 Centre Street on Sunday morning, February 12th, for Puppets and Puppets Fall/Winter 2023. Guests filed into a cool, dark corridor from an alarmingly warm winter day, up the stairs, through a magnetometer, and finally into a room that seemed fit for a jury. No other fashion week show was held in such a building. It was strange. The absurdity of the experience had a cinematic element to it. Founder and creative director Carly Mark often finds inspiration in film. For this collection she reflected on director David Croneenberg's Dead Ringers, a psychological thriller following twin doctors, played by Jeremy Irons, and their descent into madness.

Artist Quori Theodor created food sculptures for the runway, oversized chocolate chip cookies, stacks of uneaten sandwiches, dirty dishes, and cake, all of which felt out of place. The structures emphasized the sculptural nature of the accessories in the collection, like the hobo bags with banana and telephone handles that sit on the shoulder comfortably. It was all so surreal. Mark explored the intersection between masculine and feminine and uncovered an element of the unconscious mind. Flocked florals, sequined shift dresses, and satin pants meet more robust materials and techniques — snakeskin, faux fur, and tailored wool suiting. SA

Photos courtesy of Puppets and Puppets

Private Policy

Each season, designers Haoran Li and Siying Qu find inspiration in social topics related to humanity's relation to the natural world. Private Policy Autumn/Winter 2023 opened with a sequence inspired by Japanese folk tale, "Fox Wedding," a story in reference to the term for when rain falls while the sun is shining. It is a sign that somewhere nearby, foxes are getting married. The rain makes people stay indoors, and the foxes have their wedding unobserved. The show made clear that the boundary used to distinguish human from animal is continuously manufactured and ultimately, an illusion.

office had a chance to catch up with Siying who shared that the point of the collection, titled We're all Animals, was to "bring the audience into a headspace of relatability, to inspire people to be open to what animals can teach us, and to think about how that is interrelated with the preservation of nature and endangered species." Haoran and Siying thought about how to bring nature into the city lifestyle for several seasons. First with plants kept in urban environments, then with mushrooms, and finally with a play on Noah's ark for SS23. Siying sought to draw a connection between humans and the freedom with which animals navigate the world. The designs incorporated grunge and goth inspired make-up to reflect the rebellious subcultural movements reminiscent of the free animal spirit humans have forgotten. Utilitarian and animalistic elements are blended to demonstrate that the lives we live in urban cities are not that different from those of our furry counterparts. SA

Photos by Randy Brooke

Wiederhoeft

Wiederhoeft's Autumn/Winter 2023 collection, Eurydice, theatrically intertwined ancient Greek and Catholic mythologies and Virgil's poem Aeneid. In a post-Orpheus and post-gender Underworld, Jackson Wiederhoeft, founder of the brand, used this collection as a venn diagram for fear, fate and fanaticism. Eurydice also explored the idea of vis-a-vis and counterparts: Afterparty versus afterlife, predator versus prey and fate versus free will. The avant garde pieces nod the idea of religion with luxury fashion.

Each piece told a different part of the sequential story. The theatrical show transformed St. Patrick's Youth Center into a dark, dramatic show. The show began with Eurydice smoothly flowing around the room in a white gown and feather-embroidered "grass." Along come the Fates, three models wearing faille and velvet dresses with corsets and beaded gloves. Throughout the collection, you can't miss the various corsets, striking use of sequins and tulle, stark denim pieces and refined gowns. Wiederhoeft also subtly nodded to quirky quotes and graphics such as a crucifixtion, a sweater that reads "Don't Look!" and a shirt that reads "Say no to drugs." MKB