https://nicholsonbaird.com Nicholson Baird Wed, 10 May 2023 23:22:13 +0000 https://nicholsonbaird.com en https://nicholsonbaird.com/In-Conversation-with-Vanessa-Friedman Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:04:57 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/In-Conversation-with-Vanessa-Friedman In Conversation with Vanessa Friedman <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed2831c8bf32056fbae685b8b51149360cf14e9f38d86419e509f7f2bb4f0df7/friedmanHeader-1024x683.png" data-mid="173713025" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed2831c8bf32056fbae685b8b51149360cf14e9f38d86419e509f7f2bb4f0df7/friedmanHeader-1024x683.png" /> Published on SCAD Manor on 11.10.22 Graphic by Fai McCurdy Words by Nicholson Baird&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Vanessa Friedman, one of the most distinct and acclaimed voices in fashion, never intended on being a fashion writer. From studying history and creative writing at Princeton to her brief post-grad stint working for a law firm in Paris, Friedman’s path to her current role as the Fashion Director and Chief Fashion Critic at The New York Times has been an unconventional one. Friedman’s list of bylines include publications such as InStyle UK, Elle, Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Economist, The New Yorker, Financial Times, and Entertainment Weekly. In her role at The New York Times, Friedman divides her energy between criticizing collections that come down the runway each season and directing the fashion coverage of the newspaper by assigning and editing projects that give a holistic view into the vast industry of fashion — an industry that’s reach touches every person on the planet. In her visit to SCAD, I was able to sit down with the acclaimed journalist, where we discussed everything from interning to trends to the giant inflatable orgy depiction at the Diesel SS23 show. NICHOLSON BAIRD: So I know you talked about this yesterday a bit – You were at Princeton and studying history. I read somewhere you wrote a novel? VANESSA FRIEDMAN: So I was minoring in creative writing because I really was interested in writing and so I wrote a historical novel as my thesis. Weirdly, I’m now on the Advisory Committee for the History Department, and I was there having dinner and my old thesis advisor was there, who’s a German economic historian, and he was like, “I can’t believe we let you do that.” And I think it was just that at Princeton at the time, as long as you produced how you would do something, as opposed to asking if you could do it, they were fine. So I wrote a novel about the Weimar Republic and the Bauhaus. Baird: That is super exciting. And then you started at Vanity Fair, correct? Friedman: Then I went to Paris and worked for a law firm, which I think no longer exists, for about two years, and then I came back to New York, and I worked briefly at a literary magazine called Grand Street, which was run by Jean Stein. It was run out of her apartment in The Dakota. And because I was the editorial assistant, my job was to come in in the morning, turn on all the lights, and make coffee, and then Jean and her Nobel Prize winning physicist partner would arrive in their bathrobes and have coffee! So I did that for three months, then I went to Vanity Fair. And then I could order the coffee. Baird: I know you said yesterday, you just kind of ended up at Vanity Fair. You were saying that you didn’t ever think about ending up in fashion, but obviously, Vanity Fair is a huge fashion publication, Friedman: It didn’t used to be that way. When Tina Brown ran it, it focused more on Hollywood and power. It was really about power and money, honestly. So they did occasional stories on fashion, but they didn’t have fashion in the way they have it now. Even under Graydon Carter they didn’t have as much of it, but now that Radhika Jones reports to Anna Wintour, it has become more fashion-focused. I think just because the economics of magazines have become so challenged, having more fashion in a magazine like that makes sense. The thing about Vanity Fair is that it ran and still runs big text stories with thousands of words. And so if you’re interested in words, which I was, like how stories and how narratives are shaped, it was a very good place to learn. Baird: That’s awesome. Post-pandemic, especially in the past year as things have really started to open up, what have you seen that’s the biggest difference in fashion? Friedman: I think what I’ve seen is that what we expected to happen, which is that we would come out of this, and it would be the 1920s Redux, the 2020s would be similar, and we would all be dancing on tables and drinking champagne. That hasn’t happened. It hasn’t happened because the pandemic is not entirely over and because there’s so much global uncertainty and I think you see that reflected in fashion. There are some party dresses, but then there is some very protective dressing, and there’s still a lot of comfort dressing, and people are still nervous about how they’re spending their money. So you see a little bit of everything, but not really necessarily a lot of one thing. Baird: That makes sense. So, you are the fashion critic of fashion critics. Friedman: I’m not sure I would say that. Baird: Then I will say it! I think something that I’ve noticed is that there’s less actual criticism in fashion criticism. So I want to know why you think that fashion criticism, criticism, is such an integral part of the industry as a whole. Friedman: For the same reason that criticism in any industry is useful, whether it’s art or dance or film. It helps create a frame for thinking about what you’re seeing and if you want to think about it. If you get dressed, understanding the role that your clothes can play is actually a useful thing. Understanding when you walk into a store, why you’re seeing what you’re seeing, and why you might make one choice or not another choice is a useful thing. Ideally, fashion criticism helps with that. I also think it helps in the other direction, So that designers understand how their clothes are seen. Once you put something into the world, it doesn’t matter what your personal connection to it is, the whole backstory that you wrote in your head about your grandmother or the museum show you went to, or your relationship with Yves Klein Blue — once it’s out there, you don’t control it anymore. So understanding how it’s seen by people who are looking at it from a different context, I think, is actually very valuable. Understanding how it’s seen by the people who might wear it is valuable. And I hope that what I write is taken in that vein, although I’m not sure it always is. Baird: With Tik Tok, because of the way that the algorithm is, everyone gets to have an opinion and it gets to be broadcasted. For anyone who wants to be a fashion writer and have a voice that is not just a part of that mass of chronically online people, how do you think they can set themselves apart from that crowd? Friedman: You know, I think knowledge and context really helps. When you talk about the end of criticism or the shrinking amount of criticism, I think it’s because a lot of that has morphed into just knee-jerk reactionism because of social media. So things have become very much, “I like this. I don’t like it. I’d wear this. I wouldn’t wear this. That’s cute.” Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with that, but I think at the moment, there’s much more of that because that is how most people present on social media — particularly the people we now call influencers. So I think if you actually take the time to understand the antecedents to a garment, like the Chanel to Yohji to Junya, those lines, then you bring something more to the table and distinguish yourself. Baird: Awesome. Okay, I touched on this a bit, but your voice in fashion criticism is super direct and that’s something you’ve become acclaimed for. Within actual fashion criticism, do you think that criticism is struggling due to the amount of advertisers and the fact that print is really difficult these days? Friedman: The shrinking number of us! The shrinking, aging fashion! I think it’s partly due to a lot of newspapers going away, and newspapers are the place where a lot of criticism resides because magazines play a different role in the media ecosystem. And that’s too bad and just a function of general economics and how people want to receive their media. It’s partly because attention spans are shrinking, so writing even a 1000-word review is longer than most people want. They want Axios bullet points. But I think there is still a market for it, and hopefully, there will remain one. Baird: In an interview with AnOther Magazine, you said, “an independent press is important for every part of society, whether it’s political or professional.” And I guess I’m curious about how you think that fashion criticism ties into the importance of an independent press in general. Friedman: Well, it doesn’t have to be criticism. It can also be reporting. A lot of the investigative stuff we do about supply chains and production and how workers are treated is really important. We did a story that I edited about the Italian shadow production market, which are women in Italy doing home-work, I guess you call it. It’s just suddenly been outsourced to them by factories for luxury brands, and they’re being paid a pittance at an hourly wage to sew buttons on a Fendi coat or do stitching or embroidery. I think letting the brands know, even if they knew before, that this is now public, and you can’t do that, and that’s not okay, is really important. That’s part of a free press. There’s this idea that fashion is always frivolous and fluffy. And I don’t think that’s true when it comes to really any aspect of it. Whether it’s how we shop, or why we buy what we buy, why we wear what we wear, or the way that this stuff is made and sold and the actual industry, which is enormous and touches billions of lives. Baird: Yeah, and it holds people accountable. What do you think makes someone a really great critic? Friedman: I think being able to think deeply about your topic. Respecting the actors involved, respecting the history and understanding the context. Respecting your reader and loving language. Baird: There’s a lot of discourse online about Gen Z style. A lot of people say that because of such a fast trend turnover rate online, it’s leading to this huge mishmash of trends. People now say that Gen Z is trendless, which I don’t really buy. From your point of view, how would you define what you’ve seen in the past five years as Gen Z fashion? Friedman: I do think Gen Z is very interested in the 80s and 90s. Which is normal — the way the world dressed when they were kind of coming into it, but not really able to participate in it. I think that happens with every generation, and it’s just speeded up slightly. I think we’re all kind of trendless to that extent, in the sense that people are getting their information from so many different places that there is no single kind of thematic, overarching moment. I also think that mega-trends or sort of generation-defining trends tend to be seen in retrospect. So when we talk about the 80s, we’re really talking about the later 80s because things take a while to gel. Often the later 80s and early 90s, that’s actually [what we know as] the 80s. So I think it will be a while till we look back and sort of have enough distance to say, “that actually was the way this group of kids dressed or this group of adults dressed.” Or maybe we never will! Baird: So this is another thing I’ve been really interested in. After Coperni, Fabrican, Bella Hadid, obviously, the immediate reaction online is, “Holy shit. Bella Hadid. Like, look at her.” Which, yeah, look at her, you know? I feel like once fashion people started to metabolize it, their first thing that they said was, “Well, this is marketing! It’s not fashion, it’s marketing!” Which to me was like, duh. What do you think Fashion Week is? The point is to make a lot of money, so that part to me is really obvious. I’ve just been mulling it over in my brain and I’m curious as to what you think is the distinction between a marketing stunt and just great fashion? Friedman: Great fashion should be great marketing, because if it’s great, you discover it and you want to buy it or at least be inspired by it. I thought that was more than a marketing stunt, because I feel like it raised really interesting questions about what is fabric and what is design? How do you define that? So I don’t think it was just a gimmick. I think it was received that way by a lot of the world, which is fine. But if you really spend some time with it, it did sort of challenge a lot of received notions, like what is value? Who is a creator or what does it mean to be a designer? Does designing a spray-on fiber make you a designer? Is it empowering the individual to be a designer? And if so, what does that mean for people who are schooled in design? So I think it was more than marketing. But I also think I’m in the minority in that, because it involved Hadid and because it was so viral. The gimmicky aspect of it risks overshadowing the rest of it and it’s kind of on us then to raise those questions and remind people that there might be actually more to this than what at first meets the eye. Baird: That makes me really happy to hear from you. I was so excited about it and then I felt almost embarrassed the following week because people were saying, “oh, it’s a gimmick, it’s marketing,” but I thought it was a moment. Friedman: I think it’s also on the designers to make it clear too, they can contextualize it in bigger questions and [Coperni] kind of didn’t. Baird: Also the rest of the collection… Friedman: The rest of the collection wasn’t that good. Baird: Then it gets a bit tricky! I’m very curious to know about the Spring 2023 Diesel show. 5000 people in attendance, 1600 of them were students. That’s a lot of people and I want to know your opinion on it. Friedman: I think they did it very well. Often the logistics of that kind of a presentation are problematic for the professional part of the audience who’s there to do their job. You saw that in Paris with the Balmain festival when Olivier Rousteing did the same thing by inviting 6000 people out to this stadium on the outskirts of Paris and it was a total zoo. It was an hour late, so it was 10pm before it started and we were all having meltdowns because it was gonna take 45 minutes to get back to Paris and then you had to do your work. I was just thinking, this is not professional. Have a party for your fan base and then have a presentation during the day and let me come see it. I just want to see the clothes. And also we were really far away from the runway because it was in the middle of the stadium floor, so I couldn’t really see it. So that, to me, was not a logistically successful experience. But the Diesel show, which was during the day, started relatively on time and I could really see the clothes. I think it’s great to bring the population in and I think it’s great to bring students in. It also makes sense with the story of Diesel and what it stands for and the people they hope to reach. So I also appreciate that. I think if you’re going to pull a stunt like that, having it actually be a coherent political position is important. And because then it doesn’t feel like marketing. Although still, blown-up giant inflatable orgy people? Baird: A Guinness World Record! Wasn’t the invitation a? Friedman: A butt plug, yeah. Baird: I wasn’t gonna say it so I was waiting for you to. Friedman: I think half the people were like, “What is this?” Baird: While we’re on it, what are your thoughts on Diesel? Because I think young people especially respond to what Martens does there. Friedman: He’s an incredibly talented designer. I always liked Y-Project and was super interested in it. I was really amazed by what he did at Gaultier Couture, that was just beautiful and not like anything he’d done at Y-Project. I think what he’s doing at Diesel is really smart and also really beautiful and interesting. Especially in terms of sustainability and the way he is upcycling denim and pushing it in every aspect of the business including store design and stuff like that. So I have a lot of respect for them and I never really took Diesel seriously as a fashion brand until now. I think now they really are behind what Glenn [Martens] is doing. I think he was smart in his negotiations with them in saying, “I want this not just to be this little layer of fashion on top of an enormous company, but to be part of the whole thing.” Baird: Because I feel like I see Martens run throughout the brand. Friedman: Yeah, I think it’s a much bigger role than it has been in the past. Baird: It’s really interesting. In addition to what you wrote in your “Nakedness” piece – what in addition to that do you think is going to be big for spring? Friedman: So this isn’t necessarily for spring, and it’s not necessarily anything specific, but I believe very strongly that the world of sports and the world of fashion are becoming one thing in the way that the world of Hollywood and the world of fashion did about a decade ago. That is going to be a really important driver of the industry going forward. Essentially, they both are obsessed with community, values, experiences, and brand building. I think they’re getting closer and closer together. Every athlete wants to have a fashion line and every fashion brand wants to work with a sports team. I think it’s going to be a huge trend going forward. Baird: So for my last big question, I would love to know what the future of fashion means to Vanessa Friedman. Friedman: I think it’s just an expression of identity. So it has a perennial future, right? People always need clothes, and they always need more clothes than “need” would imply. You see that all the time because whenever terrible things happen, whenever there are crises, the industry that survives is fashion. People have been decorating themselves since they were people since they walked on two feet. There’s just something incredibly human about it. And so I think that is its future. https://nicholsonbaird.com/Gracie-Abrams-is-Surrendering-to-Change-in-Her-Heartbreakingly Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:04:58 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Gracie-Abrams-is-Surrendering-to-Change-in-Her-Heartbreakingly Gracie Abrams is Surrendering to Change in Her Heartbreakingly Powerful Debut Album <img width="2471" height="1184" width_o="2471" height_o="1184" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4c2be26979291be7d1923d6a9c5613137a4f45e7a4a8a7dd2184c6e8ada0ff73/gracie-header.jpeg" data-mid="173714295" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4c2be26979291be7d1923d6a9c5613137a4f45e7a4a8a7dd2184c6e8ada0ff73/gracie-header.jpeg" /> Published on V Magazine Digital on 2.24.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; In the landscape of stripped down, singer/songwriter pop music, Gracie Abrams is on her way to bonafide stardom. If her first two releases, Minor (2020) and This Is What It Feels Like (2021), were sounding boards for Abrams to test the waters of deep cutting lyricism and hauntingly gentle vocals through her exploration of heartbreak and growing pains — today her debut album, Good Riddance, hits the airwaves marking the genesis of her next chapter, with the project serving as a testament to the time the burgeoning musician spent honing her craft. Abrams has been forging her sound since the depths of the pandemic, where her cult-following started growing with the release of heart-pang tracks like “21” and “I miss you, I’m sorry.” Today, two EPs later, Abrams is set to take on what is sure to be her biggest year yet; from the release of her debut album, her own sold out headlining tour, and being tapped as an opener for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. Good Riddance shows the 23 year-old musician as comfortably settling into her sound, with her ethereal voice echoing across pared-down pop production and woodsy guitars. For Abrams, intimate and heart wrenching lyrics are her specialty, with her lyrics reflecting a sort of confessional-style poetry. While in the past, Abrams may have lamented over her heartache, Good Riddance encapsulates a sense of wisdom that she has cultivated out of emotional woes, a sign that to hurt is to grow is to blossom. Listening to a Gracie Abrams song is nothing short of an intimate experience; similar to the open-hearted spillage that escapes your lips in a late night phone call home. This intimacy is what has made Abrams such a beloved voice in music already, with her songwriting so honest and raw that the stories she shares will ring throughout your mind for hours after listening. The album details the singer’s pondering over love and all of the pain, accountability, and reckoning that comes in its wake — yet on Good Riddance, Abrams does not sit in her own sadness, she looks at it and asks herself what to do with all of it. Read V's exclusive conversation with Abrams ahead of the release of her debut album! V MAGAZINE: The last time you talked to V, you had just released This Is What It Feels Like. How was the process of touring that project? GRACIE ABRAMS: It was the first time I toured, period, and I learned so very much about myself and my music and kind of just the greater world. I was exploring places that I'd never been before and meeting people for the first time that I had spoken to on social media for years, getting to share these spaces that felt so sacred, and it felt so familiar despite being very far away from home. I felt reminded of how human we all are and how lucky it is that I'm able to do this. V: That's awesome. I guess on that note of touring, we have to talk about The Eras Tour. I know you're a Taylor girl through and through. GA: I'm the Taylor girl.&nbsp; V: What is that process of being asked to open for an artist that you've always looked up to? And not only just opening for her, but opening for her in a record breaking stadium tour? GA: No, it's super nutty. I don't believe it yet. I texted her when I found out and I was just like, "until we're physically standing there, this is all one big prank." It's the luckiest opportunity. She's so generous and I think we've seen that, whether it's up close or from a distance, as a person in terms of amplifying other artists and giving people opportunities to share their work. To be tapped to be a part of this tour in particular, it just exceeds my wildest dreams in every regard. Really, the craziest thing to me is the opportunity to watch her as many times as I get to, just as her biggest fan, but also as someone who hopes to continue to get better at what I do. To learn from her in that capacity is just the most mind blowing thing to imagine. I'm just so stupidly grateful every time I'm reminded that that is something I'm lucky enough to do this year. It's bizarre. V: It is insane. Congrats to you! That's gotta be so wild. GA: Thank you! V: I'm so excited to talk to you about Good Riddance. Congrats, first of all. GA: You hate it! V: Stop. I literally got the link and was dancing around my hotel room last week. GA: You could dance to it? That's amazing. That's impressive. V: "Where Do We Go Now?" is meant to be danced to. GA: Yeah, I agree. <img width="1440" height="1419" width_o="1440" height_o="1419" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25b92ffe8d882e1a3c8b27c565f3df6e1bfb0f600d5913db173b3ba203e3251e/32600002.jpg" data-mid="173714957" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/25b92ffe8d882e1a3c8b27c565f3df6e1bfb0f600d5913db173b3ba203e3251e/32600002.jpg" /> V: If you could generally describe a thematic inspiration for the album as a whole, what would it be? GA: Surrendering to change, trusting yourself to make scary decisions, and walking away from versions of yourself that you stop recognizing. I think I found a very safe space to do that in Long Pond Studios and in my collaboration with Aaron Desner. Having such a wise partner in this process definitely heavily influenced my ability to put words to a lot of the feelings that I had been carrying for a while. So that's kind of the thesis. V: Being in the Hudson Valley at Long Pond, how do you think that specific space lent itself to working on this album? GA: I mean, first of all, being so far removed from LA is something that served me in so many ways. I think there's a kind of quiet that you find in the middle of nowhere that is nothing like the kind of quiet that you get in Los Angeles. Being someone that's sensitive to space in terms of when I'm writing, I felt very influenced by the expansive nature of upstate New York. There's a stillness that I think seeped into the music in many ways. There was a patience that I really valued and needed in my life in general. Long Pond itself is such a magical environment and it speaks so much to who Aaron is as a person, how rare of a person he is to have created a space that encourages you to be vulnerable and open and allows you to show up as your most raw, fragile self and to write about that from a place of confidence rather than self destruction. It allowed for an accountability to come through in a lot of the songs as well, because I think I've historically used songwriting as a tool to sometimes complain about people or place blame, on occasion. There was so much self-reflection and soul searching throughout the year that this album came together, and I think that Long Pond lent itself to finding the answers to those bigger questions a bit. And then also being totally okay not knowing shit about shit. It was kind of a balance of feeling absolutely nuts, and at the same time very much held by the environment and by the trust that Aaron and I shared. V: You mentioned a bit about placing blame in your songs and I actually wanted to talk to you a bit about accountability as a theme in your music. As an avid listener of your music, I feel like you take a lot of accountability in relationships within your music. Is that a cathartic process for you? How do you feel about that? GA: Yeah, I think this time around with Good Riddance and specifically on "Best," which I was very adamant about being the first track on the album, there's an opportunity in writing for you to work through versions of apologies and self-reflections. I think that the significance of some of the relationships that I write about were so major in my life, like very important and formative ones. I think "Best" is probably the most direct and thorough form of accountability in any song that I have out. I feel less self-deprecating in general these days than I have in the past because I think I feel this greater sense of acceptance and understanding that there's constant evolution all the time and that mistakes are really fine and that they aren't a set in stone reflection of who you are for there to be these fuckups along the way. With "Best," it hurt me to write because it was a place where for the first time I was admitting certain longstanding feelings that I didn't even necessarily say to the person that I'm writing to. So it's cathartic for sure anytime I write and feel like I get the feeling down, I think that that's just always been my outlet. Being able to express yourself verbally is so rewarding sometimes I feel, and here it hurt just because I care so much. It wasn't coming from a place of like, "ugh, I suck," it was more just, I am really recognizing looking at the parts that were probably really hard for you to deal with and I'm sorry. And I should have done better and I'm trying to do better. When I think of "The Bottom," for example, there's kind of this offhand, casual, "well, I'm gonna take you down with me," versus now, I am seeing how this affected you for real, and I was almost incapable at that time to figure it out, you know? V: Yeah, totally. Talk about growth! <img width="900" height="900" width_o="900" height_o="900" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b87ff33d8ebeb0c898200d8c916834a0c9bb41fc84175e73bfdbcf2a5009c23a/121422_gracieabrams_look_01_000040-dn_crop_v3.jpg" data-mid="173715006" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/900/i/b87ff33d8ebeb0c898200d8c916834a0c9bb41fc84175e73bfdbcf2a5009c23a/121422_gracieabrams_look_01_000040-dn_crop_v3.jpg" /> GA: I don't know. I mean, I love therapy. I'm trying to implement it in real time, but also, 23 is young as shit. So I don't feel like any expert whatsoever. It's just funny with songs, it's these time capsules and I'm sure looking back in a year from now, I will have lots of qualms about certain feelings that I chose to share on this album. So we'll see! V: I feel like you are such a strong singer/songwriter in a time where that is a very popular form of music, and I think that you stick out because you're so intimate in the way that you write your lyrics. Is intimate storytelling something that you find really challenging to share? GA: No, I wish I did more. I should have boundaries. I think I'm actually learning now how to have boundaries when I'm having conversations about the music. I'm so excited to get to a place, if I'm lucky, where the music speaks for itself. I'm currently navigating how to have conversations with strangers about the music and about certain songs in particular without having to give away everything and give all the added context and fill in every last blank. I think the older I get, the more I feel more sensitive to how odd it is to have anything that's even remotely a public facing career in any regard. I am also hyper aware that, in the grand scheme of things, my audience is not massive by any means. I think about artists that I've loved and admired forever who are so brave in sharing their intimate feelings with the world, like the literal world. I'm so curious as to how they navigate having conversations with people about their music without feeling like they're saying too much. My coping mechanism is to write about these feelings and I feel very blessed that I'm able to do that and then do something with it. That is so cool. I think I'm navigating it all now, really, for the first time this year. I think it's probably because of how much I care about what I wrote about on Good Riddance, but also because I think there's been a slow burn where today I am lucky to have a larger audience than I did when I put out This Is What It Feels Like or Minor, for example. So it's like a combination of both things, knowing that there's somewhat more exposure, but also caring so heavily about the feelings. Short answer is no, writing about these things doesn't feel challenging or that I'm afraid about what people are gonna think, it's just finding out how I protect the other half, you know? V: Totally. As far as exposure goes, your tour for Good Riddance sold out the first day. GA: Yeahhhh. V: What does it feel like to have such an attentive following where you're able to sell out the entire tour for your debut album in a day? <img width="680" height="680" width_o="680" height_o="680" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/edd4358f694eaa739af0fd0de46c32a3f8a8c0b0ee6b0a3db46371b12360cf67/FmCtwONaMAApLIr.jpg" data-mid="173715014" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/680/i/edd4358f694eaa739af0fd0de46c32a3f8a8c0b0ee6b0a3db46371b12360cf67/FmCtwONaMAApLIr.jpg" /> GA: It is nuts. It just made me feel so grateful and so genuinely excited to be in all of those rooms. I just can't wait to hang out with everyone and I miss it. It's not like a community or a feeling that can be replicated outside. As far as I know so far, it's such a specific experience to play these shows and to be in the same room as everyone that gets tickets, which is so generous of them. I think I just really don't take any of it for granted. And so to have seen the speed at which all the tickets went, especially before the album's out, they don't even know what they're signing up for, I'm just so grateful for them. I feel very lucky to have this community and as long as they will have me, I will show up in all the ways that I can. V: I mean, the This Is What It Feels Like Tour, it was amazing. GA: Thank you! V: You're just so great at performing and the way that you were interacting with everyone, it was just personable and just such a fantastic night. GA: Thank you. It's so much fun to do and it's also a space where I feel like anything goes, in terms of whatever you're feeling. It feels like everyone in the room feels safe to express themselves honestly, and so for me to share that environment with them is a really cool thing. V: That's awesome. So you end Good Riddance with the song "Right Now." The way that you ended that song is so eloquent and I think that, "I feel like myself right now" as a closing lyric is such an optimistic and self-assured note to end on, especially for an album that is grappling with a lot of tough feelings. Do you think that "Right Now" is kind of a manifestation of your personal growth throughout the creation of this album? GA: Yeah, I think so in a way. I felt so lucky to have had the experience of making the album and working through all of those feelings and coming out on the other side feeling the most familiar with myself that I have ever been. That song being the last on the record was of course very intentional, just because it does feel like walking through a new door kind of, and being okay with whatever fear might be associated with it, because you're in your own skin and you're all right with that. I wrote it while kind of referencing lots of pieces of being on the road and being far away from home and even still, feeling like you can find home in yourself. Yeah, I guess it is kind of like a manifestation of all the rest of it. It's funny. https://nicholsonbaird.com/Eartheater-Discusses-Music-Sounds-Better-With-You-Video-as-the-First Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:04:59 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Eartheater-Discusses-Music-Sounds-Better-With-You-Video-as-the-First Eartheater Discusses "Music Sounds Better With You" Video as the First Visual Foray Into Mugler X H&amp;M Collaboration &nbsp; <img width="2560" height="1810" width_o="2560" height_o="1810" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/501850f66792d62e06a6fa4e167e04f6fb44d68026d56c937e3a372100681e26/2007-HENRICK-A4-PR-BTS-Landscape-Image-300ppi_08-scaled.jpg" data-mid="173715425" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/501850f66792d62e06a6fa4e167e04f6fb44d68026d56c937e3a372100681e26/2007-HENRICK-A4-PR-BTS-Landscape-Image-300ppi_08-scaled.jpg" /> Published on V Magazine Digital on 3.23.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Ever since the announcement of the Mugler and H&amp;M collaboration, the internet has been patiently awaiting a view into the collection. Today, in a riveting preview of the highly anticipated collection, Mugler and H&amp;M have released a music video starring a quartet of new-wave musicians Amaraae, Shygirl, Arca, and V137 Gen V coverstar, Eartheater — who have come together in the creation of their own take on the 1998 club classic Stardust hit, “Music Sounds Better With You.” <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2007-HENRICK-A4-PR-BTS-Landscape-Image-300ppi_16.jpg" width="1200" height="848" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 353.91854166666667px;"> The music video is imbued with the stark visual fluidity that Casey Cadwallader, Creative Director of Mugler, has become well known for in his direction of the French fashion house. From Iman Hamman smashing through studio walls in a blazer worn over a strappy bodysuit to Mariacarla Boscono purveying over a cityscape in a draped spandex dress worn under an emerald trench of epic proportions, the music video paints a dramatic scene for the collection to unfold in. As a capsule collection, the collaboration provides a range of the styles that have helped form Cadwallader’s uber-sexy vision for Mugler, as well as a dip into the archives that have led to the recreation of iconic designs by founder of the fashion house, Thierry Mugler. “The collection is a celebration of everything that defines Mugler as a house and each piece is authentic Mugler, from the bodysuits, which have become a signature of ours, to the sharp tailoring and worked denims,” explains Cadwallader of the collection. “It is a showcase of our icons.” Ahead of the music video release, V sat down with past coverstar and sonic innovator, Eartheater, to discuss the collection as well as her place in the process of making the video. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Eartheater-BTS-Portrait-Image.jpg" width="595" height="842" style="width: 500.82812500000006px; height: 708.7349264705883px;"> V MAGAZINE: I feel like your fashion sense has been a huge part of your creative identity as Eartheater, and I’m curious as to how you feel style and fashion inform your artistry. EARTHEATER: I feel like if my fit isn’t right, I don’t feel comfortable. I’m really sensitive to it. I have a lot of different styles, so every day I could wake up and dress in a very different style than I did the day before, but it’s really just about finding harmony with my feelings for the day. To me, fashion is armor and it’s unspoken communication of how I feel and what I’m trying to express, or what I’m trying to achieve that day, or how I’m trying to protect myself that day. Fashion is a very useful communicative tool for me to find harmony in my mission as an artist. V: I feel like you’ve had a very strong sense of world building for yourself. I’m curious as to how you find the world of Eartheater aligning with Casey Caldwell’s vision for Mugler?. EE: I feel like both in my work and what Casey does with Mugler, he and I are both searching for what’s next in evolution. How do we go farther and deeper into the potential of art, or even the potential of our existence? It’s a constant reaching for what is next and what feels good, but also looks good. With Casey, his seams are aligned with muscular structure, in the same way you would sculpt a Bugatti with a deep understanding of aerodynamics and shape to help it perform better. When I put on a pair of Mugler jeans, I just feel like my muscles are contained and aligned in a way that is so intelligent. His understanding of anatomy is very acute, and I love that because I think in my work I also use similar ideas of science. It’s about finding what’s gonna be more comfortable and more snatched and more sexy all at the same time. And that to me is where I want to go, with what nature wants. Nature wants gorgeousness, beauty, and ease. V: So obviously you’ve seen the collection, and I want to know your thoughts on the H&amp;M x Mugler collab. EE: Well, I grew up being a kid watching these capsule collections happen. I was living in Pennsylvania in the country, so I wasn’t able to jump on them, but I was always aware of them happening. I guess it’s sort of just surreal for me to be even involved in this at all. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, homeschooled, so it’s just really surreal to even just be part of this. Haley Wollens and Casey at Mugler right now are doing something that is very nutritious for the world and for women. I think that for them to join forces with H&amp;M is a really positive thing, honestly. V: Period. Can you tell me a little bit about the experience of recording your version of “Music Sounds Better With You” alongside Shygirl, Arca, and Amaarae? EE: Oh my God, I loved that part so much. Our group was so cute. Shygirl is my sis, I just love her so deeply. In the past couple of years we’ve ended up playing a lot of the same festivals and cities on tour and so we’ll always end up kiki-ing in hotel rooms after. She’s just been so grounding for me, I love her. With Arca it’s the same thing. I feel like both Arca and Shy have been my found family in this chaotic swirl of the music industry, so it was so magical to have them there. And then to meet Amaarae was such a gift because I just love her music so much. It just was perfect, it was so cute. I really felt the lyrics, I really felt the vibe, and I had so much fun. I wanted to do more, it made me want to actually make a song with them again. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2007-HENRICK-A4-PR-BTS-Portrait-Image-300ppi_20.jpg" width="900" height="1273" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 708.3935590277778px;"> V: It truly is such a kickass lineup with four of you! What was it like being on set for recording the music video? EE: It was really fun. You know, it’s a lot of hurry up and wait, making sure the minutiae is correct, but it’s exhilarating to see that type of high production around something that feels so wholesome and cute. It was fab and it was cunt! I mean, I was there with my girls. V: To wrap things up, I wanna know how it felt to sort of bring yourself into that project. What did it feel like to bring the Eartheater touch into a piece of this collaboration? EE: It felt gooood! It was so nice to have all these flavors together. I see, and self-knowledge is a great thing. So when I see Shygirl’s flavor, Amaarae’s flavor, and Arca’s flavor, I can also objectively see my flavor adjacent to them. To behold all of that together, it was gorgeous. https://nicholsonbaird.com/In-Conversation-with-Emily-Bode Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:04:59 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/In-Conversation-with-Emily-Bode In Conversation with Emily Bode <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4a42ff9d46e881643272fbb8a58cae3a53fcc89ea5666b12b207dc410081c652/bodeHeader-1024x683.png" data-mid="173715644" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4a42ff9d46e881643272fbb8a58cae3a53fcc89ea5666b12b207dc410081c652/bodeHeader-1024x683.png" /> Published on SCAD Manor on 3.10.23 Graphic by Fai McCurdy Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; When Emily Adams Bode Aujla started her brand in 2016, she wanted to change the way that people get dressed. Today, she’s doing just that. Bode has quickly grown into one of America’s most revered fashion labels through their steadfast dedication to creating vintage-inspired garments, often out of repurposed textiles. In the age of fashion brands rushing to keep up with the lightning speed trend cycle, Bode rides its own wave, creating clothing that compounds off of its own design voice each season rather than catering to trends. Bode’s fast rise has led to Bode herself having to forge her own path in the American fashion space, as a woman designing menswear (up until the introduction of womenswear in January), building an independent brand that is rooted in its commitment to ethically made East Coast eclectic garments. Last Wednesday, Bode and I caught up for an interview after her masterclass at Arnold Hall. See below for the interview: Nicholson Baird: So I told my mom you’re here and she freaked out. Emily Bode: Really! Does she like fashion? Baird: She does! Every time she’s in New York she wants to go to Bode. Bode: We have a lot of mom fans for sure. But it’s cool because then they actually will buy their kids clothes. It comes down to people that enjoy craft and historical sentiments and things. Baird: Well, thinking about your store on Hester Street, there is a consistent vibe curation going on. I’m interested as to how interiors are an extension of this tight knit Bode brand that you’ve created. Bode: Yeah, it’s a huge part of our business. I mean, it’s definitely what makes us who we are, because of my husband and his business partner Ben Bloomstein’s company, Green River Project. He and I both really believe in retail, but even more than that we derive our inspiration from domestic space. From spaces that deal with private versus public in general. So that’s a big part of the business and it’s something that we’ve always talked about. All my shows revolve around the domestic space and lived private spaces. So it’s something that he’s been involved in even with Bode since before he was at Bode. So the Hester Street store is the first permanent culmination of that apart from where we lived. Baird: Isn’t it Vogue that has the video of your apartment on their Youtube? Bode: Oh my god, yeah. I can’t watch it. Baird: Thinking about the domestic space in its relationship to Bode, I know you just presented The Crane Estate collection in Paris. What I noticed a lot with The Crane Estate is that what’s so specific to Bode is that trends don’t really exist in my idea of the brand. Bode: Thank you for saying that. Baird: It’s a compounding of your own storytelling, if that makes sense? When you look at huge brands they of course have their core design language, but are relatively navigated by trends. How has it been both business-wise and creatively to just narrow focus on your vision regardless of trends? Bode: I think mostly because we have not taken outside investors or financing, we’ve been able to do what we want. We don’t have the pressure to launch denim because there’s a really good margin, or it’s a volume business, or invest more in t-shirts. We’ve been able to say, “this season, we actually don’t even want to do t-shirts at all.” We can be a little bit more self-reliant in that way, so we don’t need to be dictated by consumer trends. A couple years ago, when everybody was wearing sweatpants, we didn’t have to engage if we didn’t want to. Obviously, to some extent, we want to because it’s a good business opportunity for certain things. If there’s a category that it seems that everybody is looking for from us, we can listen to our customers on that, but we don’t have to be reliant on trends as a whole. Baird: It’s really so impressive and just quite nice to see, season after season you’re so specific and doing your own thing. I think Bode kind of speaks to the eccentric, intellectual, East Coast living, intricately crafted, and curious person. Would you say&nbsp; that is kind of the direction that you’ve crafted Bode after? Bode: Yeah, I’d say that’s our primary consumer. We definitely have capital F fashion consumers also that are buying it on Mr. Porter, Ssense or Matches, and they buy it because they saw it on a celebrity or whatever. They’re not necessarily completely involved with the brand narrative, it doesn’t necessarily speak to them because they might not even know it. It might be that they were looking for a black pair of pants for their wedding, it’s really specific. So that’s a very specific kind of customer. But I think that the main client of ours, he’s quite sentimental. He engages with his own history. He’s largely East Coast, we definitely sell all over the world, but I think most of our customers are in New York. In terms of where Bode is being worn the most, New York is number one and then Brooklyn is number two. Baird: I feel like it’s become a uniform in a lot of ways. You can definitely see the impact that Bode has had just walking around downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn, you know? Earlier, you were talking about how you want to change the way people dress and I think you totally have. I remember a year or so ago, seeing a designer that was making quilted jackets very similar to your own designs but on a much less sustainable business model. Something that’s paramount to Bode as a brand is the idea of the hand and really focusing on making a garment that will live on to become an heirloom piece. So what is it like for you to watch that very sustainable core idea diffuse itself through the fashion industry? Bode: In some ways, I think we’ve achieved what we want to achieve because of that, right? You know you’ve done something right when people quote unquote, copy you, but I think it’s more than that. It’s one thing if a big company is doing a one for one sample, that’s kind of a bummer. But when smaller brands are doing it, it’s definitely flattering. And that’s the point, we want people to work with materials that they otherwise wouldn’t. In some cases it comes down to, if somebody’s not just making things from vintage, but if they’re taking your entire brand identity and copying and pasting it, that’s also a bummer. Because the whole point is that I want to inspire people of all ages, but especially young people to forge their own path like I did. So I feel like I’ve failed if people are just trying to copy because it’s like, “oh, gosh, you’re not hearing anything we’re saying!”The point is that you can create a successful business in a million different ways, and you don’t have to copy or follow the rulebook of what the fashion industry used to be. You definitely don’t have to copy, so those kinds of things are a bummer. But I think in general, it’s really exciting to see all these young brands being able to fend for themselves against bigger brands, because they’re using materials that maybe don’t even cost as much as investing in 1000 meters of a jacquard or something. Baird: I know you take a lot of inspiration from fabrics themselves and from going to flea markets. I’m interested as to how pop culture may influence you? Books, literature, or film? Bode: I would say in a general worldview, sure. Not necessarily a one to one. Film I think in general is really inspirational to me and to my husband, Aaron. We believe in film, it’s also creating its own world, it’s changing the way that people think. Books obviously do the same thing, but film is so visual. So I’d say that is inspiring but there’s not a particular person in pop culture that I’m constantly referencing. Not in the way that I would constantly reference a textile. Baird: I know you guys were talking about this at the masterclass, but I’m curious as to your process with using celebrities in your campaigns? Are you looking for VIPs or is it more organic? Bode: Prominent people, for sure. We did Jeremy O’Harris, who’s a playwright. We’ve done friends of ours, like our friends who are in bands for sure. And then of course, we loan products for a million shoots. Baird: What’s your general relationship with fashion media? Bode: You want to be close to who’s writing about the brand because then they really understand it. So I think that’s our general relationship. There’s some people that we know really well and then there’s some people that we only really see at shows, especially if they don’t live in New York. Baird: Is New York a long term root for you? I know you were talking earlier about how Paris is a super practical location for the brand. Are you steadfast keeping the brand in New York, or are you open to moving around? Bode: We’re open to moving around. We live between New York and Connecticut, but we lived in LA for a month when we opened the store there, so I wouldn’t doubt that if we’re opening a store in Paris, we’re gonna live there for a month. If we have a store in Tokyo, hopefully we could live there for a little bit, too. I would love to engage with the community in which we open a store because that’s how you meet incredible retail staff. You get to know the neighborhood, the way in which people eat, drink, and shop, or do their laundry. So I think that’s really important, and you only get that when you’re actually living there for longer than a week. https://nicholsonbaird.com/Loewe-FW23-Menswear-Materiality-vs-Form-Intimacy-vs-Protection Thu, 30 Mar 2023 19:13:58 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Loewe-FW23-Menswear-Materiality-vs-Form-Intimacy-vs-Protection Loewe FW23 Menswear: Materiality vs. Form, Intimacy vs. Protection <img width="1080" height="1350" width_o="1080" height_o="1350" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/72538fad6e0733094ba6b990f2494d397e6c5524761b851bfd229dee0c9139e6/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_RUNWAY_LOOK_38_FRONT_RGB_CROPPED_4x5_38.jpg" data-mid="173719426" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/72538fad6e0733094ba6b990f2494d397e6c5524761b851bfd229dee0c9139e6/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_RUNWAY_LOOK_38_FRONT_RGB_CROPPED_4x5_38.jpg" /> Published on VMAN Digital on 3.10.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Creative Director of Loewe, Jonathan Anderson, has undoubtedly become the modern-day leading voice in surrealism within the fashion industry, proved once again today, yet in a new vein — what he has called “a reductionist act.” The collection Anderson has presented for Fall 2023 is notably more subtle in its color palette, yet goes, quite frankly, absolutely berserk in his delectable use of thought-provoking materiality and carefully designed silhouettes. <img src="https://vman.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_SPACE_REVEAL_RB_CROPPED_5X4_1-scaled.jpg" width="2560" height="2048" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 400.6625px;"> There is a focus on materiality that is inspired by Renaissance paintings, with Anderson creating silhouettes that feel almost like a moment captured in time, similar to that of a work of art. As the resident king of fine art references, Anderson has tapped American artist Julien Nguyen to create two large-scale digital images depicting intimate moments of Loewe muse Nikos. Similar to Anderson’s focus on materials this season, Nguyen uses copper and vellum as bases for his paintings and then employs tradition with his use of classical painting materials. <img src="https://vman.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_RUNWAY_LOOK_26_FRONT_RGB_CROPPED_4x5_26.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> For the materials this season, Anderson has spared no expense. There have been shirts crafted out of parchment that mirror this idea of a captured moment in time, with the garments appearing stagnant atop of the models’ bodies as they move. What may be the most impressive material feat of the collection is seen in the two coats crafted out of metal. Seen both in copper as well as steel, the coats appear to be undulating in the wind, with the hem flying away from the body in a flawless technical foray of capturing a fleeting moment in the creation of a still object. On the other side of the coin from the tough metallics, satin has been employed throughout the collection and left to hang gently on the body. In terms of surrealist silhouettes, Anderson has presented quite an impressive lineup of coats this season. Felted wool coats have been crafted with what appears to be absolutely zero seams, in a technical feat that defies all logic. These coats, appearing in both a suit jacket length and an overcoat length, are tubular in their form, solid in their stature, yet soft in their materiality. Another fabulous outerwear moment is in the range of classic trench coats that look like they have been inflated via bike pump with their delightful puffiness and billowing shape at the hem. <img src="https://vman.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_RUNWAY_LOOK_44_FRONT_RGB_CROPPED_4x5_44.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> The coat style that is sure to be the most eye-catching is the faux-fur styles of looks 44 and 45. These plush coats have been pumped up to the absolute max in the lower portion of the garment, with the body and sleeves puffing out in a form that almost resembles the fluffiness of a lovingly baked pastry. Moments like these are where you can tell that Anderson is having pure fun with his designing, and it is this infectious feeling of unbridled joy that consumes every viewer and keeps them on the edge of their seat season after season. <img src="https://vman.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_RUNWAY_LOOK_28_FRONT_RGB_CROPPED_4x5_28.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> What may have been the most consistently shocking current throughout the collection was the lack of pants. Roughly eight of the forty-eight looks included a more traditionally tailored-trouser — the hero bottoms of the collection are long johns. High fashion has been having a fascinating love affair with undergarments for the past several seasons, yet Anderson’s presentation of such a large amount of long johns that are worn as pants feels like a shakeup. Long johns as a garment are worn tight to the body, which here holds a very intimate undertone, similar to that of a traditional brief. While the long johns are revealing in their tightness, they also have a sense of protection to them, covering the entirety of the leg even as an undergarment. This use of the long john may just be a euphemism for this tension of intimacy versus protection that carries throughout the collection. <img src="https://vman.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_RUNWAY_LOOK_30_FRONT_RGB_CROPPED_4x5_30.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> It is clear that Anderson has used this season to focus on material and silhouette, yet the hammering in of the long johns on the runway feels like it has a potent meaning behind it — I believe that a consistent choice like this from a designer like Anderson is no accident. Touching on both the intimacy and protection of the long john, there are similar themes present throughout the collection. The coats are massive and almost defensive, while paired with ultra-tiny shorts that hug close to the thigh. Oversized sweatshirts are worn as mini dresses, with no pants or shorts to be found. In the almost armor-like parchment shirts, the back is left largely barren. Even in Anderson’s act of reduction, there is a palpable sensibility that grapples with protection vs exhibition here. <img src="https://vman.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/LOEWE_FW23_MW_SHOW_RUNWAY_LOOK_14_FRONT_RGB_CROPPED_4x5_14.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> Once again, Anderson proves himself as one of, if not the, major force in fashion. The British designer created a collection void of prints; nary a pinstripe nor a floral! There is no strange imagery that is cast onto the garments, yet Anderson has no trouble conveying his sense of surrealism through subtle color, whimsical forms, and clever materials. Anderson can speak to his interests in Renaissance paintings while simultaneously speaking to this push and pull between protection and intimacy. What is the difference in choosing clothes that are meant to protect versus clothes that are meant to reveal? Anderson asks these important questions while always adding in his signature flair of surrealist joy, a quirk that has made his designs the most infectious in the industry. https://nicholsonbaird.com/Saint-Laurent-Menswear-SS24 Wed, 10 May 2023 23:22:13 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Saint-Laurent-Menswear-SS24 Saint Laurent Menswear SS24 <img width="2240" height="3359" width_o="2240" height_o="3359" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/21f4da387fb150ea6a5d9d29444d52e0c1fe2f6ba3e08a722016c6334a23f27f/00049-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" data-mid="183314591" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/21f4da387fb150ea6a5d9d29444d52e0c1fe2f6ba3e08a722016c6334a23f27f/00049-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" /> Published on CR Fashion Book on 6.13.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;It’s quite a joy to watch a designer hit their stride; when the clothing that rolls out onto the runway is not only desirable, but also feels conversational within the context of time which surrounds it. Where clothing is, yes, great clothing, yet also is able to speak to the world that it lives in — this is great design. This sensibility is the tenor of which Anthony Vacarello’s past several seasons at Saint Laurent have evoked. Framed by the Modernist architecture of Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, Vaccarello presented the Saint Laurent Men’s Summer 2024 Collection, which has been titled, “Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves.” The almost intimidatingly gorgeous glass and steel space itself, designed by architect Ludwig Miles van der Rohe in 1968, is softened with a perimeter of undulating curtains. This simple balance between harsh and soft seems to be the springboard for which the collection was built off of. <img width="2240" height="3361" width_o="2240" height_o="3361" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9fbc5beab003b2d553b97ae7c677c352a2acb8912fa09c73176b34e732eda582/00003-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" data-mid="183314624" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9fbc5beab003b2d553b97ae7c677c352a2acb8912fa09c73176b34e732eda582/00003-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" /> The show commenced with a host of suited looks; shoulders were big, trousers were slim, shoes were sharply pointed at the toe, and bowties were pulled at the sides, elongating them just over the lapel of suit jackets. As the procession of suits continued into the space, there is a kink in the repetition via an extremely low-slung scoop necked satin tank top, revealing almost the entirety of the model’s chest peeking out from underneath the suit jacket. Aha! There it is! This is the moment where Vaccarello just ever so slightly begins to inject a breath of femininity into his view of menswear. <img width="2240" height="3361" width_o="2240" height_o="3361" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e6e1abed275949b816af460afc2b8aa2d183ec39bf6e4d1e7f1dead19af3b70c/00005-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" data-mid="183314629" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e6e1abed275949b816af460afc2b8aa2d183ec39bf6e4d1e7f1dead19af3b70c/00005-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" /> From that point on, there is a consistent dance between notions of what could be considered as traditionally feminine and masculine dress codes. The template of the suit is further supplemented with light and airy blouses, often constructed out of sheer fabrics that reveal the entire upper half of the body that lies beneath. Where models are not wearing jackets, their shoulders are often left barren, resulting in pieces that are so carefully laid on the body and specific in their silhouette that they feel like a portal to the draped garments of Ancient Greece. <img width="2240" height="3360" width_o="2240" height_o="3360" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/23bfe6b20a491899faf019a1dfc45794725d19859c3e959e3e530281c7e451e0/00041-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" data-mid="183314709" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/23bfe6b20a491899faf019a1dfc45794725d19859c3e959e3e530281c7e451e0/00041-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" /> The key here is context. What do canonically feminine fabrics, silhouettes, ideas mean when they are put on a man? Blurring the lines between gendered clothing is no novel concept in recent years, yet there is a je ne sais quoi to Vaccarello’s menswear in the past few seasons that has placed Saint Laurent as a house that is acutely aware of this shift in the zeitgeist. <img width="2240" height="3360" width_o="2240" height_o="3360" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/36a7333711956468a0e57044344f9a39dbf2311a6807336a2b68c011a86f5994/00023-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" data-mid="183314718" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/36a7333711956468a0e57044344f9a39dbf2311a6807336a2b68c011a86f5994/00023-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" /> When we think of menswear, a suit is quick to come to mind as a set of clothing that is associated with power, the modern man’s armor, if you will. So as Vaccarello disrupts this armor, he is, in a way, disrupting the man’s protective nature. This subversion of menswear through the use of carefully curated feminine design touches is a dismantling of not only traditional forms of men’s dressing, but a suggestion to rethink what it means to be a man. <img width="2240" height="3361" width_o="2240" height_o="3361" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c184f3da51c636787dc6b95ba8310d046bd8f5e46d0abe79f7133c46e7e78e31/00026-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" data-mid="183314734" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c184f3da51c636787dc6b95ba8310d046bd8f5e46d0abe79f7133c46e7e78e31/00026-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" /> “Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves,” is an immensely powerful statement, yet it is one that Vaccarello has no problem elaborating upon within the clothing presented. The quote is plucked from The Ballad of Reading Gaol, a poem written by an exiled Oscar Wilde, who was sentenced to two years of prison after being convicted of indecency with two other men in 1895. Considering Wilde’s legacy of toying with themes of masculinity, it’s clear that through the title of the show alone, Vaccarello sets the stage to offer his own modern commentary on similar themes. <img width="2240" height="3360" width_o="2240" height_o="3360" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d5b1cf86a6fe7536782249ba372691e65b33fd72f68939a35386d53c6c94ee45/00045-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" data-mid="183314740" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d5b1cf86a6fe7536782249ba372691e65b33fd72f68939a35386d53c6c94ee45/00045-saint-laurent-spring-2024-menswear-credit-brand.jpg" /> If the title of the collection, which gives this hypothetical man the power to kill what he loves, is the problem at hand, then the collection is the answer by means of dismantling said power. The clothing here is a vessel to speak to the harshness and coldness that society has instilled into young men, with Vaccarello suggesting that the solution, or at least a part of it, is to rethink the way men dress from the ground up. https://nicholsonbaird.com/Balenciaga-FW23-Where-Do-We-Go-From-Here Thu, 30 Mar 2023 19:23:24 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Balenciaga-FW23-Where-Do-We-Go-From-Here Balenciaga FW23: Where Do We Go From Here? <img width="792" height="293" width_o="792" height_o="293" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0efd251768a7f770d9503bc513327a6616b6abab1cdb9ca891d527f538a80ee8/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-45_NADINE.jpg" data-mid="173719931" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/792/i/0efd251768a7f770d9503bc513327a6616b6abab1cdb9ca891d527f538a80ee8/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-45_NADINE.jpg" /> Published on V Magazine Digital on 3.10.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;To say that all eyes were on Balenciaga this season would be a massive understatement. After a series of two ad campaigns towards the end of last year, Balenciaga and Creative Director Demna were at the helm of a PR nightmare, with many calling into question the ethics of the brand as well as the need for a massive shift in the historic fashion house. After a long term break from the internet, Demna broke his silence in February with a Vogue interview, where he took accountability for the wrongdoings of the fashion house’s ad campaigns, announced a three-year partnership with the National Children’s Alliance, and explained that for his fall 2023 collection he would be going back to the basics. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-1_ELIZA.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> The venue for Balenciaga’s Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection, the all-white Parisian classic show space of the Carrousel du Louvre, already proved to be a markedly large shift from their last presentation that took place in a large-scale mud pit. Show notes ahead of the collection consisted of a letter from Demna, reading “Fashion has become a kind of entertainment, but often that part overshadows the essence of it, which lays in shapes and volumes, silhouettes, the way we create relationships between body and fabric, the way we make shoulder lines and armholes, the way clothes have an ability to change us.” <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-16_BENJAMIN.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> What followed was the designer’s most pared-back collection of all time, with nary a logo in sight. Opening the collection was a host of tailored looks, oversized in traditional Demna fashion, and constructed out of pants. Trouser waistlines had been flipped into hems of tailored jackets, or turned on their heads to create pant cuffs. The trousers themselves are left loose-fitting and doubled, creating a visual blur that looks like a fluid display of two sets of legs. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-32_JELLE.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> A puffer coat, jersey zip-up sweatshirt, tracksuit, and motocross jacket have all been constructed with sewn-in inflatable forms. These pieces, inspired by extreme athleticism, are quite simple garments with a subtle deformation that gives the body an interesting silhouette. The only other enticing moment, or moments, of silhouette in the collection were the reappearing bulbous shoulder pads that were employed in the vast majority of the latter half of the collection. These shoulder pads were placed under a myriad of garments from silk georgette draped dresses to track jackets to faux fur coats. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-31_ANANIA.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> The closing seven looks of the collection were a dip into the more traditional ideas surrounding the fashion house, with Demna exploring the codes of eveningwear that were paramount to the designs of Cristobal Balenciaga. Containing the aforementioned shoulder pads, were a host of gowns that contained crystallized fringe, sequin embellishment, and skin revealing lace, all of which were finished by a bow tied around the waist. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-53_JOEY.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> Demna was quite clear in his assertion that he did not want to make gimmick-oriented clothing this season, honing-in on his lifelong adoration of clothing — yet in actuality, the collection feels like a highlight reel of the designer’s best logo-less looks plucked from his collections over the past few years. There are moments of intrigue, i.e. motocross footwear or the impact-ready padded garments, but overall the show consisted of looks that were safe rather than compelling. Luckily for Demna, his decision to walk away from fashion as a form of entertainment falls right in line with the largely wardrobe-centered season that has unfolded over the past month. Unfortunately for us, this walk away from virality has led to a loss of the isms that have previously situated Demna as one of the most clever social commentators within the industry. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-43_SYLVIA.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> Clothing that is made out of the pure love of fashion itself does not have to necessitate an ignorance of the world that surrounds us; it’s quite the opposite, actually. Love of fashion is inherently a love for the ways in which clothing speaks to the state of our world at a specific point in time. Yes, a shakeup in the collections created by Demna is needed, yet taking a completely opposite stance on the purpose of fashion from one season to the next would be an impossible task for almost any designer. Optimistically, one can hope that this collection is a sort of ground zero for the designer to compound his new vision for the brand. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-18_MIKA.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> That being said, the possibility of a less logo-driven Balenciaga is still an exciting prospective future for the brand. It was Balenciaga’s Spring 2020 Ready-to-Wear Collection where Demna concluded a show full of his archetypal designs with the presentation of absolutely massive crinoline gowns in emerald-hued velours and light-catching metallics. The tension that he explored then, between high-fashion and the potent conceptuality of putting more everyday-centered looks on the runway, is where Demna’s promise as a designer has, is, and hopefully continues to be inspiring. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BALENCIAGA-WINTER-23-LOOK-38_MATHIEU.jpg" width="1080" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 626.03515625px;"> https://nicholsonbaird.com/Coperni-s-Host-of-Robots-Are-Conceptually-Riveting-Yet-Ultimately Thu, 30 Mar 2023 19:28:06 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Coperni-s-Host-of-Robots-Are-Conceptually-Riveting-Yet-Ultimately Coperni's Host of Robots Are Conceptually Riveting, Yet Ultimately Show-Stealing <img width="2560" height="1707" width_o="2560" height_o="1707" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f575aa723af24014f59016b82cec7e6e93c37ab7455ffd674731f230e868f1c1/GettyImages-1471048789-1-scaled.jpeg" data-mid="173720320" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f575aa723af24014f59016b82cec7e6e93c37ab7455ffd674731f230e868f1c1/GettyImages-1471048789-1-scaled.jpeg" /> Published on V Magazine Digital on 3.4.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;At Coperni, a continuation of exploring the relationship between fashion and technology was done through a contemporary retelling of the 17th-century Jean de la Fontaine fable, The Wolf and The Lamb. Here, Spot Robots, courtesy of Boston Dynamics, play the role of the wolf as they roam the runway as the show unfolds around them, while we the people are left as the lambs. These robots are more than intriguing to watch, eerie in the way they prowl around the show space and dystopian in their presence. This clever rendition of a classic fable speaks to the human relationship with technology; exploring the tension over who reigns supreme, us or the almighty computer? <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Coperni_fw23_runway_press_look14.jpg" width="1200" height="1800" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> In the first half of the collection, the clothing was centered around fable-esque fashions, with Creative Directors Sébastien Meyers and Arnaud Vaillant looking to Little Red Riding Hood as inspiration. Toile prints tell the story of The Wolf and The Lamb through an adaptation of Gustave Doré’s original illustration of the fable, as cheeky metal pinched hand brooches pucker dresses along the body. Recycled leather has been used to create tattered skirts that look like they’ve been put through the wringer — or rather, attacked by wolves. As the first half came to a close, a host of models were swathed in blankets wrapped around the body, seen in faux fur, wool, and shirting <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Coperni_fw23_runway_press_look11.jpg" width="1200" height="1800" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> As model Rianne von Rompaey came down the runway in a wrapped black blanket, she met one of the robots, which proceeded to clutch the front of the blanket before snatching it off of her, leaving her in a quite simple black spandex mini dress. Soon after the robot tore the outerwear off of her, it released its grasp, allowing Rompaey to take her coat back from the machine before continuing down the runway. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GettyImages-1471048789-1-scaled.jpeg" width="2560" height="1707" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 333.9506286621094px;"> Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images What followed was a more technological-centered roundup in opposition to the previously fable-inspired ensembles. Nylon technical jackets and draped spandex speak to a semi-futuristic feminine-centered gorp-core, while other looks are more ornamental, such as tops and dresses constructed out of silver feathers as a hybrid between natural elements and futurism. What may have been the most exciting form of modernism presented was in the brand’s newest rendition of the Swipe Bag, which has been 3D printed in order to resemble a meteorite. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Coperni_fw23_runway_press_look22.jpg" width="1200" height="1800" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> The stakes at Coperni this season were at an all-time high, as their last runway presentation in September left us with arguably the biggest fashion moment of the year á la Bella Hadid sprayed down in a gauzy Fabrican concoction. Due to a masterfully ideated technological feat as well as Hadid’s undeniable likeness, the performance was broadcast to every corner of the internet as a good ol’ fashioned viral fashion moment. While the runway moment begged questions on who becomes the maker in modern fashion or what technology offers to the future of fashion, the rest of the collection was relatively lacking in its upholding of the performance. Here, we run into a similar issue. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Coperni_fw23_runway_press_look31.jpg" width="1200" height="1800" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> Releasing the family of robots into the show space through the context of The Wolf and The Lamb is an intriguing framework for a show that will take on the tension between humans and technology, yet there was a disconnect between this concept and the clothing itself. There has definitely been an improvement in the infusion of concept into the presentation; after many argued that Hadid’s performance last season felt out of place, the robots here had a very specific purpose in storytelling, which was undoubtedly exciting to watch unfold on the runway. In a season that has largely been defined by a sense of anti-virality, Coperni is swimming upstream with their newfound dedication to performance on the runway, a task that they have already seemed to have mastered. The uphill battle that remains is finding a way to create a collection of clothing that lives up to the hype which surrounds it. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Coperni_fw23_runway_press_look39.jpg" width="1200" height="1800" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> https://nicholsonbaird.com/Device-Driven-Dressing-at-Courreges-FW23 Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:49:43 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Device-Driven-Dressing-at-Courreges-FW23 Device Driven Dressing at Courrèges FW23 <img width="2560" height="1109" width_o="2560" height_o="1109" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9684d7312fd13d6cb3df7bc618e7295eb934ca8d5f9c469f06cbae43c6f45924/Courreges_FW23_runway_press_look01-scaled.jpg" data-mid="173848013" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9684d7312fd13d6cb3df7bc618e7295eb934ca8d5f9c469f06cbae43c6f45924/Courreges_FW23_runway_press_look01-scaled.jpg" /> Published on V Magazine Digital on 3.2.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The Courrèges Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection opened with a phone-in-hand model, her face lit up from the harsh white glow emitting from the device. She wears a hoodie underneath a stiffly crafted coat, giving the silhouette of a downturned triangle, as she proceeds down the runway and the entire venue begins to light up from darkness. Creative Director Nicolas Di Felice has modeled the collection on the physical stance of this act in of itself; the way the body changes as it leans over a screen. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Courreges_FW23_runway_press_look02.jpg" width="1500" height="2250" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> Throughout the collection, the majority of oversized jackets and coats from denim to leather to wool have been made with openings along the side of the body, which allows for the wearer to stick their arms out of the portals while the silhouette of the jacket as a whole remains unchanged. These jackets pose interesting questions both in their physicality as well as conceptually; is the consistent option to use these slots rather than sleeves a way of upholding structure within the garments while hands are busy typing away? Or is it a sly statement on how our bodies become almost misshapen as we bend and slouch over on our phones? I think both. The hammering in of this design-trick implies that for either channel in which it has been done; it is clear that Di Felice sees the constant accessory of the iPhone as instrumental to the garments we wear. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Courreges_FW23_runway_press_look18.jpg" width="1500" height="2250" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> As far as the accessorization of the looks coming down the runway, there is a consistent use of large metal disk mirror necklaces; both close to the neck as well as suspended downwards towards the midsection. These disks are most successful where they fit into adequate circular cutouts within dresses and coats, acting as a sort of fitting of puzzle pieces that creates a sexy sense of tension. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Courreges_FW23_runway_press_look27.jpg" width="1500" height="2250" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> Another moment of sexual tension is evident in the reappearing navel cutouts presented throughout the collection. Cutouts are often a dime a dozen in the creation of sensual fashion, yet Di Felice’s focus on the belly button calls for an inquisitive look at the way we reveal ourselves through the clothing we wear. Even avant-garde reveler Julia Fox was sporting the belly button reveal while sitting front row at the show in Paris. The look where this is most intriguing in practice is in the presentation of a no-frills black skirt, a sheer nude bodysuit with the navel cutout, and a pair of leather gloves that extend all the way up the arm and creep up onto the model’s shoulders. The sheerness of the top already reveals the entire upper half of the body, which makes the raw exposure of the belly button alone an even further evolution in the practice of revealing. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Courreges_FW23_runway_press_look44.jpg" width="1500" height="2250" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> The collection teeters back and forth between the uncomfortableness of our obsession with screens and the process of inner reflection. While undeniably sexy in the construction of garments, the collection contains an almost eerie undertone that is predominantly concerned with growing screen time. Di Felice’s exploration of our device-driven posture is an intriguing current that runs through the presentation of sensual clothing, toying with ideas of covering and revealing as well as delightful silhouette explorations. https://nicholsonbaird.com/Eroticism-and-Brutalism-Reign-Supreme-for-Eckhaus-Latta-s-FW23-Show Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:53:28 +0000 Nicholson Baird https://nicholsonbaird.com/Eroticism-and-Brutalism-Reign-Supreme-for-Eckhaus-Latta-s-FW23-Show Eroticism and Brutalism Reign Supreme for Eckhaus Latta's FW23 Show <img width="900" height="329" width_o="900" height_o="329" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f39ba5ba94a58b6a6c8de8eec0690a799b0b36ab4ffe6bc1f2a2df4b1edf3f3f/EckhausLatta_FW23-13.jpg" data-mid="173848159" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/900/i/f39ba5ba94a58b6a6c8de8eec0690a799b0b36ab4ffe6bc1f2a2df4b1edf3f3f/EckhausLatta_FW23-13.jpg" /> Published on V Magazine Digital on 2.14.23 Words by Nicholson Baird &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;“Be fluidly brutal and find god,” reads the conclusion of the show notes for Eckhaus Latta’s Fall 2023 Ready-to-wear Collection, presented on Saturday night in a very foggy and dimly-lit space. “Fluidly brutal” may just be the most concise way to describe Mike Eckaus and Zoe Latta’s presentation; a no nonsense presentation of practical pieces with an undertone of severe eroticism. As the show opened, the room went completely dark, with models being lit via a harsh spotlight as they emerged from a glowing doorway. The first half of the collection was predominantly dark in color palette and quite serious in construction; the opening look was a tough wool overcoat, worn atop an accordion knit in deep blue-ish green and a loose raw trouser. As the show progressed, the showing of skin was notably more erotic than it was sexy. Slashes in garments exposed slivers of skin, while knit dresses were left to almost completely reveal the body in its entirety. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EckhausLatta_FW23-1.jpg" width="900" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> The looks slowly evolved into more colorful concoctions with the brand’s signature eccentric color use of mossy green, deep navy, and pops of bubblegum pink. Even where the showing progressively gained color, there maintained a restriction of sorts — right as the palette became its brightest in the presentation of two pink looks, it was then reigned in back into a more controlled range of pastels, khakis, and grays. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EckhausLatta_FW23-15.jpg" width="900" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> As always, Eckhaus Latta has shown off their masterful understanding of complex and intriguing materiality. Shearling was used in the construction of a patchworked vest as well as being morphed into a revealing wrap top. Delicate knits were consistently light and sheer (modeled by the delightfully chic John Gries of The White Lotus), save for a couple of chunky hand knit bomber jackets. A large selection of denim has been coated in a waxy indigo sheen, while elsewhere, jeans were given a technicolor dye treatment consisting of a mirage of cobalt blue, burnt orange, grass green, and grayscale. The most exciting accessory treatment was the creation of thick soled loafers and boots, coated in a rugged brown beige fur. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EckhausLatta_FW23-20.jpg" width="900" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> While the rest of the collection is most certainly sensual in their design, the idea of eroticism was most vividly expressed towards the end of the show in the presentation of two looks that were anchored by amber organza pieces. The sheen of the pieces gave them an almost rubberized feeling that felt undeniably kinky in their materiality. The women’s offering came in a matching set that had been scrunched and gathered, puckering around the body, while the men’s piece was a button down with a subversive hem that felt reminiscent of an undone body suit. The closing look was an open-backed dress that felt evocative of a butcher’s apron; a strangely delightful blend between sensuality and extreme toughness. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EckhausLatta_FW23-25.jpg" width="900" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> As a whole, the collection was grounded by an aura of eroticism, brutalism, and ruggedness; a departure from their more celebratory collection presented for SS23. While the clothes were, yes, often revealing, they maintained an integrity of protective dressing. Call it the looming recession, the lingering pandemic, or quite possibly any of the other major quandaries that society as a whole is facing in the modern day — there is a current sentiment in fashion that is calling for clothing that is tough and Eckhaus Latta has proven themselves as a label that deeply understands this zeitgeist and what it means in the way we choose to get dressed. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EckhausLatta_FW23-28.jpg" width="900" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;"> Eckhaus Latta as a brand is so consistently strong in that what you see is what you get; there needn’t be a shtick for the creation of brilliantly interesting and simultaneously practical clothing. Their designs are complex and often a tad strange in their texture and silhouette, yet they remain practical and wearable for their customer. The Eckhaus Latta wearer is excited by the prospect of getting dressed, and they want clothing that can give them both intrigue as well as utility in the way their clothes are worn. There is a very New York sensibility to this balance; a ruggedness, an erotic flair, yet most importantly, a practicality that is essential to their wardrobe. <img src="https://vmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EckhausLatta_FW23-30.jpg" width="900" height="1350" style="width: 500.828125px; height: 751.2421875px;">