WHO DECIDES WAR SS24: “ALTERATIONS CONSULTANTS”

Throughout this collection, Bravado and D’Amore touched on multiple themes in addition to their consistent luxury apparel – one being the Victorian era. The trademark arches made their debut on lace corsets and bell-shaped dresses with gloves and arm sleeves.

In addition to their iconic Bullet Bag, they debuted sleek bags that were cohesive with the corsets – with arches being connected by string and lace. ALTERATIONS CONSULTANTS also included a subtle, yet already very much talked-about cowboy boot. From the ankle-up, the boots are black leather embossed with the original WHO DECIDES WAR arch on the side. From the ankle down is a python skin-like pattern.

Paparazzi came in hot as the star-studded show saw attendees like Ice Spice, Central Cee, Teyana Taylor, the Woods family, Quavo, Swae Lee, Dave East, PJ Tucker, Fabolous, Lala Anthony, Jalen Green, Draya Michele, KidSuper, and many more.

As the brand continues to evolve, expect to continue to see the same maximalist motifs – but pay more attention to the little details like buttons, embellishments, dyes, laces, and finishings. While the brand has taken off on an insane scale since 2019, WHO DECIDES WAR is not stopping anytime soon.

What can we expect from SS24: ALTERATIONS CONSULTANTS?

Ev – I think the main thing for this season has been refinement for us. There’s a lot more emphasis on tailoring and subtle aspects, whereas a lot of people expect us to be extremely maximalist all the time. We’re trying to find a balance between the subtle details and our over-the-top embroidery, distressing, and so on.

Do you have any favorite pieces or looks from the new collection?

Téla – We’re showing a full offering of womenswear matching the men’s looks. I’m really excited about the nuanced corsetry that we’ve put together I guess is slightly trending but very different from what’s out there currently.

What’s your creative process and how do you guys work together?

Ev – For us, we always start with soul searching, which normally begins right at the end of every show. You always have some zany ideas right after, but we take a minute, recalibrate, connect with the world around us, and find the story that we’re trying to channel through the next couple of months through the medium of clothing. It’s just a lot of soul searching and finding a story that resonates with everyone that we can draw from organically and tell that story to everyone else.

How long did it take to make this collection?

Ev – We started ideating in March, which was right after our last show. Then we started sampling in late May.

Many athletes and celebrities wear WHO DECIDES WAR. How are you able to cater to luxury and everyday looks at the same time?

Ev – The whole motif of our brand is Americana seen through the lens of a person of color. That being said, that message is very multifaceted. We have super highly distressed, detailed garments and then there are more simple things like screen-printed garments.

Téla – Where we began, we were creating from a place that didn’t have any kind of foundation. We were creating from a place that would be considered the most raw version. I don’t want to say streetwear, I don’t feel like we’re streetwear, but we kind of started the same way that any streetwear would. It started out as ideas and putting one foot in front of the other, then refusing to compromise on our vision and making sure that it was something that was really succinct, though people were trying to get us to cater to these other things. We catered to our vision, which ended up being a culmination of everything that we’ve been seeing, which has been this high luxury perspective. Being able to be mentored by Virgil and being ushered into these crazy spaces like prepping for a Louis show…It’s creating from that and those experiences where it’s exactly how we cater to that wide spectrum because that’s what we are.

When you’re sketching out looks and ideas with your team, what does that collaboration mean to you when you’re all able to complete these collections?

Téla – It’s everything. Without our team, we wouldn’t be able to do this. Both of us know how to do almost everything, but there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ We can’t act like we have the time for everything at all. So to be able to partner with people and trust what other people want to see this thing through just like us is an incredible feeling. It’s really something that you can’t thank people enough for. That kind of collaboration to be able to do that; It started with us just trusting in each other and knowing that we had something special and if it could be developed, really honed in on, and focused on. To have people come in and be just as excited about it as you is really something that’s indescribable. 

You’re known for the stained glass arches. How do you maintain your themes while also being able to be more versatile every season?

Ev – I think it’s just finding new mediums to translate the stained glass window into. You’ll see in the collection that there’s a lot of hardware that utilizes the stained glass. It’s the same logo but presented in a different format. Every season we ask how we can take this to the next level. Certain things have been an ideation from last season. The rivets were something we really wanted to use last season, but we didn’t have time to really make it come to fruition. This season we were able to really hone in on it and fully use it across a wide array of garments. Also, if you go anywhere in the world, you’ll see stained glass in any type of building and the art always varies. So for us, what is the imagery or the feeling we’re trying to emit this season and how do we channel that through the stained glass?

Do you usually get most of your inspiration from experiences, creativity just coming to your head, or both?

Ev – It’s both. Traveling is a major source of inspiration and also music, film, whatever it may be, can just spark an interest. A lot of times it’s conversation as well with friends and their ideas or feedback that they would have for us. We take that and put it into action, but I think life is the biggest motivator for us for sure.

Do you ever get direct inspiration or feedback from certain artists or athletes?

Téla – When we started, rest in peace his soul, Pop Smoke, we were working with him a lot. He was a genuine family friend and to be able to talk to him about what he wanted as he was developing and growing at such an astronomical rate. It was so sick to connect with him about pieces that he would be excited to wear and then start creating those. The whole reason why we started creating more leisure wear, sweatpants, and terry; Developing those really heavily was because he really wanted things to travel in and have cool, chill things. They still had the same motifs and still were WHO DECIDES WAR. He was really where we started taking direction from. From there we are always so serious about it not being one person dictating everything. We love to have people offer feedback. We have a friend who’s a jeweler. It’s a totally different industry, but he comes in and still offers certain notes of refinement and looks at the overall just as another artist…I feel like it’s so much about artists connecting. It’s a real release of ego to grow this thing, and for us, it doesn’t matter where it comes from. If you have a good idea, it might go into play for real.

What do you think makes WHO DECIDES WAR unique compared to other brands?

Ev – It really started from a place where we were creating to fill a void in what we were seeing in the marketplace. Every season as we inspire more and more brands, we try to one-up that outdo ourselves. We never want to be predictable. I think this season, people are going to be maybe a bit surprised to see the amount of tailoring or refinement whereas they used to see a lot of maximalism. Of course, those details are still there, but how do we translate this in a space where we are growing up and not always looking to be wearing the loudest thing in the room? But still, we have to stay true to our customer who expects that from us. It’s really just outdoing ourselves every season.

What does the future of WHO DECIDES WAR look like?

Ev – We have a major collaboration slated for the end of this year or early 2024, so that should be fun when that rolls out. But I think it’s sustaining growth, doing things the right way, not oversaturating the brand, and still having it be something that is very unique and special. People feel a piece of home, and that they have something they felt we spent a lot of time on so they could appreciate it.