River Island top and earrings, Nike shorts

PHOTOS: ANNA RYON
STYLING: LOLA CHATTERTON

Hair and Make-up: Xabier Celaya
Fashion Assistant: Olivia Pigeon
Models: Ayesha, Nikoline, Rosie, Daniela, Anna, Lanre and Melissa

Click through to the next page to see more pictures.

River Island top, earrings and bracelet, Nike shorts

River Island top, Franklin and Marshall shorts

Lacoste L!ve polo shirt, Nike shorts, ASOS leggings; River Island top, H&M shorts

H&M top and bra, Franklin and Marshall shorts, vintage trainers, Lacoste L!ve socks

H&M top, Nike leggings, vintage socks and slippers, Reebok dumbbells

Franklin & Marshall shorts, vintage socks

Nike bra, American Apparel shorts, G-Shock watch

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My friend Amanda Schmidt, who is wearing Abercrombie & Fitch for a solid calendar year

Back in high school, I avoided Abercrombie & Fitch like botulism. It seemed like literally everyone I hated (or at least was forced to tolerate) was dressed tip to tail in this stuff, and it defined their identity in a way that made my JNCO-clad ass a wee-bit uncomfortable. It's not even that the clothes look that bad—I have to admit, I'd absolutely destroy a croquet tourney in a Johns Brook Oxford Shirt. My problem with Fitchers was that they were seemingly able to efface all their racist and homophobic excesses simply by wearing the stuff, and still retain that hard-to-nail, Risky Business garden party sheen.

A few months ago, I noticed my friend Amanda Schmidt was wearing a sensible Abercrombie knit top to some dingy loft party. I just sort of assumed it was ironic and moved on—she's a musician, performance artist, and zinemaker, so chances are we were terrorized by the exact same people in our younger and more vulnerable years. Then I saw her a few days later at a party, this time sporting a staple A&F hoodie. I asked her what was going on, and she told me that she'd decided to wear Abercrombie & Fitch for a solid year as a sort of performance art/life project, and was currently documenting the whole thing on a Tumblr called AbercrombieAndFitchFierce.

To scroll through Amanda's Tumblr is to lull yourself into a deep and comfortable sleep: she looks pretty much the same in every image, barely ever smiling, rocking the 'Cromb. But a year? An entire year scooting around town in nothing but Abercrombie? I rolled this idea around in my mind for a few weeks. Even though I've got such a deep-seated prejudice against anyone who wears this stuff, in the words of LFO, I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch. I can't help it; it's like Stockholm Syndrome. So I got over myself and decided to pick her brain to figure out what the hell she's doing to herself.

VICE: Hi Amanda. I've been following your Tumblr of Abercrombie photos for a while now and I think it's time that I talked to you about it. Where did this idea originally come from?
Amanda Schmidt: One afternoon last summer I was walking in Midtown and passed a guy wearing an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt. This happens all the time, but for some reason this instance struck me and I thought, "Maybe I'll wear Abercrombie & Fitch shirts every day for a year."  It was an amusing thought that stuck with me. I started the project in November of 2012 and called it "Fierce (Untitled)," after the A&F cologne. I love Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano; their durational works are major inspirations for what I'm doing. I'll be doing this until November of this year.

What are the parameters of what you're trying to do?
I wear an A&F graphic shirt and their cologne Fierce every day. Fierce is that smell you pick up in the store. The shirts are all purchased new. I currently have six T-shirts and three sweatshirts. I sometimes wear non-A&F undershirts or sweatshirts, but any over shirt I wear is button-down or zipper-down so that the A&F shirt is always visible.

To highlight the project, I also aim to not resemble a typical A&F customer in the rest of my outfit. According to years of extensive field research, not looking like an A&F customer entails avoiding a variety of signifiers, such as thick horizontal stripes, plaid, floral jeans (I was surprised to see these in the store last season), clogs, Uggs, flip flops, short denim shorts, your standard tight jean, or any new-looking denim, for that matter, any earth-tones and pretty much any pattern reminiscent of après-skiwear. I also avoid canvas shoes, because all the male employees in the flagship store wear them.

I pair the shirts with more alternative dress. This means a lot of thrift store stuff and loud prints. This juxtaposition aims to highlight the A&F shirt as a conscious choice as opposed to a brand affiliation or lifestyle default. It also decontextualizes the shirt and isolates the practice of branding so that it can transcend the specificity of A&F. As you can see in the photographs, some outfits are better than others. I have to rev it up for summer. I also need to think more about my hair.

What does Abercrombie represent to you, or I guess to our culture at large? 
Abercrombie & Fitch is the king of teen mall culture, so to me it embodies low-brow elitism. I also associate it with early mornings on Black Friday.

Did you wear Abercrombie when you were a kid?
My big adolescent plight was that I wanted to wear it but couldn't afford it. The hierarchy was Abercrombie, American Eagle, Aeropostale, and then Hollister opened. Hollister was so cool that it didn't have a sign outside the store, but A&F remained the coolest. Maybe the haze of Fierce has something to do with it. Or the models.

What kinds of clothes were you wearing before you started wearing only Abercrombie?
On a good day, muted. On a normal day, boring. Black Urban Outfitters pants and an over-sized monotone shirt was my uniform. So this has actually taken me far outside my comfort zone.

Has anyone looked at you differently, or treated you differently than normal, since you started doing this?
Certain people notice my shirts, and a lot of women evil-eye the louder elements of what else I have on, depending on what aspect of the outfit is most out-of-context in a given situation. A couple people have asked what's up with the shirts, but aside from a bit more attention, not really.

Do you want Abercrombie and Fitch to know about you? 
Yes! Maybe we can work out a fiscal sponsorship situation. I hope that my daily tweets at them get some response, or at least a free shirt, but so far nothing yet. 

Has this project improved your life at all?
Yes. I've been reading fashion theory for the first time, and it's opened me up to a whole new world. And this revolution of my wardrobe has me feeling less self-conscious than ever before.

Are you sick of it yet?
Not at all, I'll be sad when it's over. All dress is inherently a performative choice, but not dressing for a specific project anymore will be boring. 

Why not J.Crew or some other brand?
Abercrombie is more ubiquitous. It's for young people, and it's less classy. J.Crew says, "I'm a professional living in Manhattan and I may go boating this weekend." Abercrombie says, "I live everywhere and I'm going to the mall." It says youth. The brand needed to be a middle school throwback. Branding rules in school. So why do this so long after my school days? In my immediate community, people no longer wear brands from middle school, but a lot of the general population seems to. And by otherwise wearing stereotypically "alternative apparel," I'm not only referencing suburban mall tropes but alternative ones as well. We're all branding ourselves somehow; it's inescapable. This really interests me!

If you'd like to see many, many more photos of Amanda in Abercrombie, you can follow her Tumblr, AbercrombieAndFitchFierce. She'll be doing this for the next year.

 

Before the Canadian news cycle was inundated by a series of political scandals, resignations, and smoke-outs, a decidedly minor controversy occurred within the pages of Canada's Sun Media newspaper chain. On Tuesday, Xtra revealed that one of the paper's “SUNshine Girls” (the scantily clad women who appear on Page three of every issue) was actually Amelia Maltepe, a transsexual model from Toronto by way of Bangladesh.

To their credit, Sun Media seems unconcerned with the revelation, even though they were unaware of Amelia's sexual identity. Sun Media may have a contentious history with Canada's LGBT community, but, as Toronto Sun's editor-in-chief Mike Wallace told Xtra “she's cute and we ran her photo.” He also let it slip that Amelia was not the first trans woman to become a SUNshine Girl.

Unfortunately, not everyone sees things that way. A petition titled “KEEP SUNSHINE GIRLS AS WOMEN NOT TRANNIES” originated at the white supremacist internet forum Stormfront (as noticed by Toronto Standard) and has so far gained a staggering 30 signatures. Nonetheless, I had a chance to talk with Amelia, who is evidently not bothered by the haters.

VICE: When did you realize that you wanted to live as a transsexual?
Amelia: It was on Halloween, a year and a half ago. I dressed up as a girl, and after I dressed up I started getting attention. I just thought, that's what I want to be.

How did your friends and family react to the news?
Oh my. I had a problem with my family in the beginning when I told them. Probably for two or three months I had problems. Then after my mother told me: “Well, If you like it, then do whatever you want to do, whatever makes you happy.” So now I have no problems with my family. They are very supportive and my friends are all the same. I have very good friends, and my boyfriend especially. He's very supportive.

Are your family still in Bangladesh, or do they live here in Canada?
I don't have any family here in Canada. They're all back home. Every two or three days I am in contact with my family. My father called me last night. I don't have any problems with my family.

What’s your relationship with your boyfriend like?
I dressed up as a woman on October 31st in 2011 and I met him in the first week of November, so he knew me as a transvestite. Like, when I was dressed up, but not living as a girl completely. Then we started dating and we have been together for a year and a half now. He already told his family about me and they are OK with it.

So when you met him, would he have identified as gay or bisexual?
No, I don't think he would have called himself gay. I am the first transsexual relationship he's had. Before, he was in relationships with girls. This is the first time he's gotten together with somebody like me. I would call him maybe bisexual, but still, he doesn't go with men.

How did you end up becoming the SUNshine girl?
I saw some of the newspapers. Afterwards, when I saw it, I said “Oh, why don't I try to do it.” So I filled out the form, and then I emailed it to them. And they replied to me and I went and I did the photo shoot. I didn't know it would be controversial. I didn't have anything like that in mind and they didn't ask me about my sexuality or whether I'm transsexual or not. If somebody doesn’t ask me, I don't have to tell, right?

Were you worried that they might find out and pull the plug on the shoot?
I'm confident about myself. I am never afraid in public, and I know that people don't know. People don't realize, so I was not afraid that something like that would happen. So I did the photo shoot.

Was the transition to doing that as a transsexual fairly easy?
I'm very happy that I did it and I don't have any problems because I'm more confident. When I was a guy, I wasn’t very confident. I was a cute boy. I was still beautiful, but after I did my sex change, it changed my life.

So, excuse me for asking this, but are you pre-op or post-op at the moment?
I still have my thing.

Were you worried, during the photo shoot, that the photographer might notice?
No, no. There is no way they could notice. How could someone notice? I could do a bikini shoot. I go to the beach, people don't notice. They don't see. I have my own underwear I can put on. Nobody would see.

Have you heard about the “KEEP SUNSHINE GIRLS AS WOMEN NOT TRANNIES” petition that your photo inspired?
I don't who made that, but I think this is very stupid whoever is doing it. It doesn't really bother me or make me feel bad. I know about myself, I am a very confident person. It didn't bother me for one second.

Are people ever shocked when they find out you're a transsexual?
My close friends know and they are my friends, so it's not a problem. In public, I go to the gym, I go to clubs, I go out, and people never realize. They see me as a beautiful girl. You saw my pictures, right? In real life, people never even think that. I don't need to tell anybody. If they ask me, I don't need to tell, because I have a boyfriend, so I don't need to get into that with anybody.

Do you end up surprising people?
With my close friends' friends, sometimes I say “Well, you know I'm transsexual” and people get shocked. They think I'm joking, but no, I'm not joking. I'm serious. But I have a few friends who are transsexual, and they talk about how they feel, so I know about that. People look at them a certain way. When they walk down the street, people make comments. I understand what they're going through, but I've never had that feeling.

On the SUNshine Girl bio, you say you want to be Miss World, were you inspired at all by Jenna Talackova's bid to be Miss Universe?
Yeah, I always wanted it, from the beginning, but I was not sure if I could do it. But after she came out, yeah, she inspired me.

Do you plan on having a full sex change later?
Honestly, I'm not thinking about that presently. I don't know what's going to happen in five years or ten years. I really don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think about that right now. I talked to my doctors, I talked to my friends. If I did that, my sex life would be finished. I won't have an orgasm and I won't feel like a real girl feels, even if I have a vagina. I won't feel it, so why do I need to do it?

Follow Alan on Twitter: @alanjonesxxxv

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After four years of nervous breakdowns, crying over frayed lamé, and fighting peers over tiny scraps of fabric, the graduating class of Parsons 2013 BFA program showcased their designs at the school’s annual fashion show. The two-hour event consisted of 48 really good student designers from all over the world who actually have a shot at becoming famous and making items that retail at prices normal people can’t afford. In fact there were so many talented newcomers this year and every collection was so annoyingly cool it was a serious pain in the ass for us to pick our favorites. So to the ones who actually made our list, congratulations! May your future financial backers' bank accounts be plentiful and you never have to embarrass yourselves by competing on Project Runway!

Dain Jung, 27
Seoul, South Korea

One of the most daunting tasks fashion designers are faced with is the hellish process of piecing together all of their insane ideas and weirdo outfits into a singular collection with a theme that people will understand and hopefully relate to. Dain Jung did the best job of this drawing inspiration from a more somber place by referencing his youth and the times he spent in hospitals with his sick mother. At first glance it seems like any ol’ menswear collection in white and pale washed-out hues—but up close it’s an epic translation of hospital workwear into fashion with its snap closures, leather shoe covers, and mittens(?). Although it’s rare that collections as strong a concept as this one ever cross over into society, I hope that this one makes it. Hospitals fucking suck and being seen by a doctor dressed as well as one of these guys would definitely put my mind at ease, even if I were just told I was dying.

-Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Isabel Simpson, 22
Nashville, Tennessee

I see what you did here, Isabel. You thought you’d put Lil B’s head on top of some Hindu gods and screen print that shit on some mesh T-shirt dresses and all white Timbos, and I—Wilbert “the Broke God”—would start foaming at the mouth and nerd-jaculating right in the front row of Parsons’s fashion show for graduating students... Well, you were totally correct. Thank you, Isabel, for blowing my mind, I would definitely let you fuck my bitch.

When it comes down to it, this collection just makes good sense. After seeing 90s-era sporty-girl gear adorned with nirvanic images of the rapper who famously looks like J. K. Rowling, the only question I had was why it took so long for this to come into existence. I hope I’ll be able to get my hands on my own Swami B gear sometime soon.  

-Wilbert L. Cooper

Patrick McCabe, 22
Memphis, Tennessee

Despite the disgusting and somehow acceptable trend today where guys don’t shower for a week/dress like total slobs, after viewing Patrick’s McCabe’s five-piece collection, it seems all hope is not yet lost and the Southern gentleman of yesteryear might not actually be dead. The looks he presented, which were inspired by Sir Noel Coward’s most famous quote, “Why am I always expected to wear a dressing gown, smoke cigarettes in a long holder, and say ‘Darling, how wonderful’?” can only be described as a breath of fresh spring morning air. He successfully constructed a classy, yet contemporary collection complete with formal slippers, smoking jackets, vested suits, and laser-cut accessories that could make the crustiest Tompkins Square punk look like Clark Gable and possibly get him laid.

-Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Paul Kim
Anaheim, California

My grandfathers on both sides were serious players. They slayed Nazis in World War II, were impeccable womanizers, and carried themselves with an air of elegance that I think men have lost over the generations. I’ve spent my young adult life trying to live up to their legacy of swag. So, it was easy for me to relate to Paul Kim and his collection, which was inspired by his recently deceased Korean grandad who was a self-taught painter. What’s cool about his collection is that it’s not a bunch of costumes from a period piece. He mixes his own love of LA streetwear with elements of his grandad to come up with something that feels nostalgic and new and surprisingly wearable. I’m sure if he had lived to see the young designer’s collection, his grandpa would’ve been pretty proud.

-Wilbert L. Cooper

Harim Jung
Seoul, South Korea

I could never be a fashion designer due to the amount of harsh criticism, disappointment, and ego shattering failure that also tends to go along with the job. Harim Jung most likely will never have to worry about this kind of trauma because not only did she give her collection the best title of all collections that have ever been assembled, “Time Traveller (Identity and Ethos)," her work is clean, modern, and will most likely be sold in high concept, higher-price tag stores that look more like museums than clothing ateliers. Like Maison Martin Margiela and Raf Simons, her pieces are not dissimilar from the types of fashions the human race will be forced to wear after the world has ended and we’re all peasants in a dystopian society. At least we’ll all look really goddamn good, even though we’ll be murdering eachother in a gnarly state of nature.

-Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Payton Franzen, 21
Seattle, Washington

I’m not an outdoorsy kind of dude. I don’t like fresh air or sunshine or green grass or birds or any of that shit. I like highways and stereos and Sodastream and 4tube. But even though I’m not one to get down in the wilderness, I wouldn’t mind women mistakenly thinking I could hunt and kill my dinner like a modern day Natty Bumppo. Payton Franzen’s collection is the perfect gear to create that farce. Inspired by Olympia National Park in Washington State, it boasts heavy-duty fabrics like GORE-TEX and fleece utilized in an elegant fashion that reminds me a bit of Patrik Ervell, who also shares a love for high-tech materials. Even though I may only know how to pitch a tent, I’d feel like a real nature boy in Payton’s gear.

-Wilbert L. Cooper

Yunxhiang Sharon Zhou 
Tai-An, China

The most memorable collections are the ones that contain hauntingly curious garments that no one in his or her right mind could actually ever wear anywhere. This is probably why a number of Yunxhiang Sharon Zhou’s outfits ended up finding their way into my complicated, sleeping-pill-induced hallucinogenic “What the fuck does that mean?!” kind of dreams last night. Perhaps it was the unusually long pinstripe jacket and bowler hat, or the brown leather smock, or even the white-and-gray-apron look, which she paired with trippy pinhole glasses and arm-length, straight-jacket gloves that caused me to break out in a cold sweat—I can’t be sure. I’m still kind of reeling. But no matter what it was about her presentation that caused me to interpret her vintage-workwear collection as the uniforms in an insane asylum from another dimension, I’m definitely feeling her vibe. Thankfully she was the recipient of the Designer of the Year award in menswear, so I look forward to seeing more of her indecipherable symbolic-dream-inducing work next season.

-Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Sophia Sung Suh 

The sea is kind of creepy, when you really think about it. We know as much about what lies in the watery depths of the oceans as we do about deep space. But we take what happens in the water for granted, because its proximity gives us a false sense of familiarity. The fact that way down, deep in the water, it’s so dark that mysterious creatures have evolved to withstand immense pressure and create their own light evokes a natural feeling of wonder. It makes perfect sense, then, that Sophia would find inspiration in these bioluminescent creatures, which have never been seen by the naked eye of man. Like those creatures, her designs had a rarified, elusive quality—something mysterious I have never quite seen before. Her lustrous rust-colored jackets, angular-soled shoes, and the fin-like sleeves all made it clear that Sophia’s waters run deep.

-Wilbert L. Cooper

Josh Lafoya, 21
Taos, New Mexico

There is quite possibly no better combination of cultural obsessions in this world than Chicanos and celebrities. Now that I’ve seen this marriage of fashion favorites courtesy of Josh Lafoya I can’t help but wonder why no one else has ever had this brilliant idea before? I’m not saying that donning attire featuring Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, or Lady Gaga is a good idea, on any other occasion it’s abso-fucking-lutely not. But those celebs depicted as holy Santos with halos over their heads, side by side with sexy Cholas, huge guns, and sweet cars... holy shit my head just exploded! Yes, you may place that across my naked chest and with pleasure.

-Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Dina Tarrab
Cairo, Egypt

Being part of a man cult that worships satanic witches wouldn’t be so bad, especially if all the witch ladies wore the long, flowy wares of Dina Tarrab. I can see myself getting in on all the rituals, fetching obscure potion ingredients, and fighting in life or death tournaments against other dudes for the honor of being ceremoniously sacrificed to a drapey, black fashion goddess named Witch Hazel, or something. I was kind of bummed when I read Dina’s press materials because there was no mention of blood sacrifice or deadly nightshade. Apparently the collection is called “Holy Squares” and has something to do with quadrilaterals. This of course means nothing to my carnal imagination, or my desire to hang out with some elegantly dressed succubi in the woods.

-Wilbert L. Cooper

Myung Jin Ji, 22
South Korea

I didn’t get a chance to meet Myung Jin Li; I’m sure she is a very lovely person. But I can’t shake this feeling that she was that one girl in school who, whenever she raised her hand, everyone around her rolled their eyes and went “Ughhhhhhh...” That’s not a bad thing, just an assumption I made by staring at her designs for a good ten minutes while also trying to wrap my head around the summary Parsons released explaining her collection. For starters, her thesis is called "Evolutio." All of the designs started on a 2D grid based on X, Y points, then something about buckram, upgrading materials, boning, matte vinyl, and natural shapes… then something else about 3D structures coming out from a 2D grid, infinite number of points, and yadda, yadda, yadda. All she really had to say was “I think H. R. Giger is cool,” but I appreciate the lengths to which she went to clearly help us understand how her 15 to 20 percent functioning superbrain works.

-Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Thi Wan, 21
Burma

Thi Wan’s “Border” collection is on some weird shit. But I like it, because it would serve as the perfect wardrobe for this interstellar action-adventure skin flick I’m working on called Skeet Wars, which would star me as a well-endowed hero named “Longo Dickrissian.” Longo always wears all white, and uses a power called “the Pork” to dick-down co-stars like Princess Layus and C-3P Ho, while fighting  an evil empire who is vying to turn the galaxy into a place of immense sexual repression. Basically the movie is like Star Wars, Superfly, and Black Butt Jungle all in one. It will be an instant classic. Thi, if you are reading this, get at me about doing costume design. What better way to start off your budding fashion career then doing wardrobe for my intergalactic exploitation porno?

-Wilbert L. Cooper

Sandy Liang, 21
Queens, New York

Sandy Liang is nothing short of awesome. She’s a New York native, and although pretty damn young, she’s accomplished a lot for 21-year-old by interning for Opening Ceremony, Richard Chai, Jason Wu, 3.1 Philip Lim, and getting her BFA collection sponsored by Swarovski and Saga Furs. The hard work she’s put in at Parsons, instead of wasting her tuition by sitting around on friends’ couches getting high and giving people shitty stick-and-poke tattoos, is visible in her designs. Not that I know the complexities involved with sewing anything other than a button back onto a shirt, but I’m sure that dyeing a fur coat to look like Bambi sucks a big one and is really easy to fuck up. All “hard things I’ll never be able to do” aside though—her designs are tight and I want all of it.  

-Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Photos courtesy of Parsons

@ABUNNY

@WilbertLCooper

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Uniqlo T-shirt, vintage pyjama trousers and shirt from Rokit

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Christian Siriano coat, vintage dress

VIRGINIA WOOLF, 59
Born: January 25, 1882
(London, England)
Died: March 28, 1941
(Lewes, England)
Cause Of Death: drowning

Stylist: Annette Lamothe-Ramos
Set Design: Grace Kelsey
Models in order of appearance: Grace Kelsey, Amelia Fleetwood, Erica Cho, Virginia Talbot, Kumara Sawyer, Thao Dang, Paige Morgan

Special thanks to the Kelsey Family

Suno jacket

IRIS CHANG, 36
Born: March 28, 1968
(Princeton, New Jersey)
Died: November 9, 2004
(Los Gatos, California)
Cause of death: gunshot to the head

The Row shirt, jacket, and pants, vintage necklace

DOROTHY PARKER, 73
Born: August 22, 1893
(Long Branch, New Jersey)
Died: June 7, 1967
(New York, New York)
Cause of death: natural causes, despite several unsuccessful suicide attempts, the first in January 1923, at age 23, by slitting her wrists

Ruffian jacket, vintage Christian Dior skirt, vintage rings

CHARLOTTE PERKINS, 75
Born: July 3, 1860
(Hartford, Connecticut)
Died: August 17, 1935
(Pasadena, California)
Cause of death: suicide by chloroform

Suno dress, Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony x Bass shoes

SYLVIA PLATH, 30
Born: October 27, 1932
(Boston, Massachusetts)
Died: February 11, 1963
(London, England)
Cause of death: carbon-monoxide poisoning

Vivienne Tam dress, Erickson Beamon necklace; Look From London tights

SANMAO, 47
Born: March 26, 1943
(Chongqing, China)
Died: January 4, 1991
(Taipei, Taiwan)
Cause of death: hanged herself with a pair of tights

Issa dress, Morgenthal Frederics glasses, Jenni Kayne shoes

ELISE COWEN, 28
Born: July 31, 1933
(New York, New York)
Died: February 1, 1962
(New York, New York)
Cause of death: self-defenestration

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Wearing her wig hat and shades to match
She’s got high-heel shoes and an alligator hat
Wearing her pearls and her diamond rings
She’s got bracelets on her fingers and everything
She’s the devil with the blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on.
—“Devil with the Blue Dress On,”
     Shorty Long, 1964

Most women will indignantly deny that the pleasure they derive from their clothes has anything to do with the idea of attracting the opposite sex. They dress, they say, to please themselves or (a little more profoundly) in competition with other women. But in competition with other women for what?
—Clothes, James Laver, 1952
 

Sex isn’t about fashion. Fashion isn’t about sex. If fashion were about sex, models would twerk down the runway in fashion editors’ faces and twirl around poles for the photographers. Vogue editors would get lap dances. And the models wouldn’t look prepubescent. The rack would be back in fashion, and not the one you see pushed down Seventh Avenue. Strippers would put it on instead of taking it off. Sasha Grey would be in high-end fragrance ads.

Victoria’s Secret pretends that it has a fashion show and that it participates in the world of fashion, but the secret of the Secret fashion show is that it isn’t a fashion show—it’s Republican burlesque. It isn’t about fashion any more than the Sports Illustrated “Swimsuit Issue” is about sports.

Indeedy-do! Fashion is one world and sex is another. The twain may meet once in a while, and while we might treasure the juiciness of those overlap moments, there are two different distinct systems and iconographies at work here. But then again, there is sexy fashion and there is fashionable sex. We are not entirely deprived of their collaboration. If you’re lucky and smart you can have it both ways on occasion. Sex and fashion are very intimately related in their origin, and once in a while, even today, they are joined somewhere near the hip.

But if fashion isn’t purely about sexual attraction, what is fashion about?
 

Traditionally, fashion is about class. If you’re wearing fashion then you belong to a particular class and what you wear identifies you as such. It may even differentiate your status within that class. Originally, fashion was the exclusive domain of an elite—the aristocrats, and then the ownership class. Landowners wore fashion and then the great mercantile barons got in on it, but everybody else was just wearing clothes. Any episode of Downton Abbey illustrates this distinction clearly. Both classes are dressed in code: those downstairs are in uniforms as flow-chart specific as those of the military, defining rank at a glance, while the costumes of the upstairs denizens emphasize narrative, history, and, if not creativity, artistry and taste. For both ruling-class men and women, fashion promoted individuality and broadcast the lack of physical employment, although physical sportiveness, particularly horse and hunt, did occasionally sex things up a bit.

“You look classy, you know what I mean?” That’s a very middle-class thing to say, but fashion is always aspirational.

In Clothes, James Laver wrote: “In early times, before women began to compete in the game, the Hierarchical Principle was almost the only one that mattered. Anything was welcome which raised a man above his fellows, often in the quite literal sense. Hence plumes in the hair, and the strict rules that had soon to be devised for preventing unimportant persons from wearing as many or as conspicuous plumes as their betters.”

The seminal text explaining the class struggle behind fashion is Thorsten Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class, which offers two key motivations for the codified and competitive manner in which we dress: conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption. In a society of classes, members of the upper class seek to emphasize the fact that they don’t work or, if they do, that they don’t sweat or get their hands dirty. The work of the upper class, according to Veblen, is “exploit,” while the work of the lower class is “drudgery.” The idea of a multi-class society is simply that better people don’t work. Today it’s OK to work as long as you only use an iPhone to do so and stay out of the office.

The history of fashion is filled with extreme examples of the demonstration of idleness, indolence, and conspicuous leisure, from Chinese foot-binding, long lacquered nails, petticoats, bustles, and crinolines, to platform and high-heeled shoes that often make the simple act of walking unassisted problematic. Hobbling women is one of the most persistent fashion strategems, from the platform shoes of ancient Athens, to the teetering Gaga boots that offer NBA height to average women. For centuries, high-end women’s footwear was designed to be worn in a sedan chair (or later, limo). If you have to actually walk anywhere, how important can you be? Male pimps were never great believers in walking, so they adopted platform shoes in the 70s to lengthen their “gangsta lean,” and grew their pinky nails long, not just to scoop up daring powders, but to show that they didn’t do manual labor or housework. Work clothes are not fashion. Fashion is “I don’t work” clothes.

As far as conspicuous consumption goes, that game has changed somewhat. Dressy clothes aren’t what they used to be. Hermès offers a $91,000 T-shirt, and the APO jeans that cost four grand have gold rivets. It’s all coded through a matrix of brand names now, so that the rich can recognize each other, but the muggers can’t.

Today we look at the extreme costumes of a century or two back with eyes far different from those to which they were designed to appeal. We may find them unsexy in the extreme, although with a little investigation we learn that what’s sexy is also quite subject to fashion’s twists and turns. In the Renaissance, a woman might have bared her bosom at court and received a certain admiration, but to show her calf or ankle might have sparked a scandal. Fashionable breasts were, of course, breasts that never gave suck, to babes anyway, but those of a woman who, if she had children, paid someone to wet nurse, someone who didn’t sport décolleté.

One need only look at how Marie Antoinette was dressed and how her hair was done to understand that revolution against fashion, as it was then known, was inevitable. The next things to go after Marie Antoinette lost her head were corsets, high heels, layered skirts, and towering powdered wigs. All of a sudden, women could move. They could even run. It was a first taste of freedom that would eventually overthrow the conspicuous feminine leisure apparatus.

Then, in 1851, a married woman involved in the Temperance movement named Amelia Jenks Bloomer promoted pantaloons for women through her journal, the Lily. Thanks to an odd coalition of suffragettes, manufacturers (particularly textile manufacturers) who employed women, and health advocates, “bloomers” caught on like crazy, and once women took to bicycles in them, well, there was no stopping them.

The first modern fashion that we might recognize today as sexy was created by Madeleine Vionnet, who founded her Parisian Temple of Fashion house in 1912. Inspired

by dancers, particularly Isadora Duncan, and appealing to the neoclassical sensibility of bohemians who admired the Greek and Roman pagans of old enough to dance around the maypole in togas, she liberated the female body from corsets and stays, simply draping the natural body like a classical sculpture and introducing the bias cut that both concealed and revealed.

This artistic renaissance happened to coincide with social and political changes that liberated women from roles symbolized by those massive petticoats and bony corsets. Ironically, what we see today as the beginning of sexiness in women’s fashion actually had far more to do with women going to work than with sexual liberation. The flappers of the jazz age, with their short skirts, sheer stockings, bobbed hair, and red lips, smoked cigarettes, drank cocktails, and danced daringly to “Negro music.” They slept around, but they also manned the phones, typewriters, and sales counters of the new world. Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays, who invented public relations, told the flappers that Lucky Strike cigarettes were “torches of freedom,” and smoking became fashion for suffragettes. Pardon me for putting it this way, but the jazz age was girls gone wild. And some men liked it.

Women found new ways to demonstrate their leisurely unemployment, and fashion developed into a great industry that reached high and low, creating styles and brands that would signify status more literally than it had ever been signified before.

Revolution continued throughout the 20th century. It was proclaimed an age of democracy, and so the old classes were mixed until class became not a segmented totem pole, but a sort of infinitely varied spectrum, with the masters of the universe on the couture end and the lumpen fabulous occupying the other wing. In fact, fashion became a new form of class warfare, far less risky than taking to the barricades.

Today, fashion is a complex engine. It consists of many layers, each corresponding to a specific class sensibility, some oddly invisible to the others. There is the traditional top-end couture crowd, which favors original creations made to proclaim supreme consumer power and unrivaled leisure. Then you have your fashion avant-garde demimonde, ever advancing the bounds of fashion and obsoleting last year’s advances. And then you have various levels of fashion, from Donna Tartt intellectual, all the way down to working girl and fly girl. They all work the same way, but each looks different. Sex girls have their own fashion—bimbo goddess wear. But each level operates in some way as fashion.

Of course, fashion at any level has to change, or it’s not fashion but a continuum of style. Fashion changes the eye’s focus, suddenly manifesting epiphanies of a new beauty. Once we’ve refocused to the new conventions we wonder how our parents, or even our former selves, once considered those looks to be attractive. Or were they?

Perhaps the pants worn by Barbara Stanwyck or Rita Hayworths’s shoulder pads were never intended to lure Fred MacMurray or Glenn Ford, but to bewitch other women with their ballsy, take-charge drag. After World War II came the baby boom, when all the GIs got home and down to bedroom business, and it was no coincidence that fashion suddenly emphasized the heroic breast, with Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Sophia Loren, and Diana Dors starring as Venus. Yeah, the human body has its own fashion trends. Remember curvy supermodels? If you’re under 30 you might not recall the era of pre-interchangeable fashion models. Designers, apparently, want all the applause at the end of the show. Still, sex always seems to be trying to make a comeback in fashion, but often under new guises.

As Mary Eliza Joy Haweis wrote in her 1879 book, The Art of Dress: “Costume vibrates perpetually between the need of being seen and the need of being covered. Now one bit of the body’s beauty is displayed, and the rest is sacrificed and covered up… Another scrap of arm or shoulder has its day, and gives way to the foot, or the waist, or something else.”

Every man who loves women knows the bafflement that arises in him over certain costumes that are all the rage in the fashion establishment. I remember feeling that there was a conspiracy at work when they attempted to foist the maxiskirt on the public, just when the miniskirt had given us more leg (and glimpses beyond that) than ever before. We also feel cheated when we begin to realize that she’s not really dressing for us, but for her girlfriends.

It is not entirely about money or class or sex. It’s about being ahead. Of having the vision before it goes mass-market, and thus being in the leadership dragging us into the future. They want to be imitated by the women who see them, and to be the first to introduce the latest shock of the new. Even if it’s about recycling, fashion is the religion of modernism.

Most of the women who participate in real fashion dress for other women. Some women dress for men. But those who dress for women seem to belong to a class above their sexed-up sisters. Leandra Medine, a deliberately adorable and adorably deliberate young fashion blogger who goes by the handle the Man Repeller, explains that pursuing true fashion, the hardcore, often entails what she calls “man repelling.” Leandra defines a man repeller as “she who outfits herself in a sartorially offensive mode that may result in repelling members of the opposite sex. Such garments include but are not limited to harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls, shoulder pads, full-length jumpsuits, jewelry that resembles violent weaponry, and clogs.”

It’s not that a woman of fashion is consciously motivated by the prospect of scaring off men, but the chances are that your basic hetero guy hasn’t broken the fashion code to the extent that he can fully dig what she is wearing and why it is attractive and powerful. Fashion is always ahead of the curve, and the alpha male is often way around the other side of that tricky bend. But sometimes we get lucky.

There is always, even if it’s hidden away, fashion that qualifies as such and yet is visible and appealing to the hetero-male naked eye. Some of us can read fashion in all its coded glory, and occasionally we find ourselves aroused by something that emerges from fashion. We see the primordial in the sophistication of Azzedine Alaia. He makes women look hot. We can say the same for several Italian masters such as Antonio Berardi, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianni and Donatella Versace, and the new Sicilian guy, Fausto Puglisi, who told me, “I like the idea of the traffic stopper. I am Sicilian in this.”

“The real truth would seem to be… that the human creature is by nature not a clothed animal but a naked animal, is ever reverting by bits to its original state. Never can it attain to it, in the temperate zone, under whatsoever revolution of feeling, health, or morals. Clothed it must be; and yet is impelled dimly to be at once clothed and unclothed.”
—Mary Eliza Joy Haweis,
   The Art of Dress, 1879

In our convoluted system of ephemeral and instantaneous class struggle, we are perhaps always computing the signals we send out with our clothes, to achieve a perfectly targeted balance between attraction and repulsion. Like Lady Gaga with nice tits and horns growing out of her shoulders. Born this way? Not exactly. It’s voluntary alienation. With the right clothes, a woman can turn this one on while turning that one off. It’s a new and small world, and we can’t afford to simply attract everyone anymore. It’s not safe. Billionaires don’t wear cutaway coats; they wear jeans. A genuinely rich person wouldn’t dare look it. Today, fashion and sex are all encoded. When they’ve got your number, you’ll know.

In the Old Testament, we are told that after eating the fruit that imparted knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed. Clothes, apparently, were improvised after this satanically inspired epiphany. But perhaps it was the other way around. In On Human Finery, Quentin Bell quipped, “Such races as go naked are by no means deficient in modesty, and the first garments worn were perhaps used in erotic dances as a means of excitement.” Perhaps especially in our time it seems clear that the purpose of clothing is not so much to prevent us from getting aroused as to expedite it. It’s all a matter of fine-tuning to bring fashion and sex into harmonic alignment.

When tuning up, start with the G-string. If it’s vibrating correctly it will lead you straight to the G-spot.

Most people know Jason Dill as the chain-smoking, enigmatic skateboarding legend who has been a fixture in the New York City skate scene for over a decade. But did you know that he is also the proud father of a teenager? His clothing and skateboard brand Fucking Awesome is 13 years old, and like any good parent, Jason puts in time and energy every day to ensure his little guy grows up right.

In addition to clothes, Fucking Awesome recently started producing skateboards, with Jason and Anthony Van Engelen serving as its flagship pros. Since launching the boards in September, they’ve ruffled some feathers with their raw and unapologetic style, and have confused more than a few youngsters along the way. With the recent release of Kevin Terpening’s debut pro deck and the second round of boards about to drop, as well a new AVE & Dill Vans Syndicate pack out in February (full disclosure: I have a web series on Vans.tv), I figured now was as good a time as any to sit Jason down and get him to dispel some of the myths of FA and shed some light on six things you didn’t know about Fucking Awesome. As usual, Dill does not disappoint.

Click here for more John Nozum

For more Dill go to Fuckingawesomestore.com

More stupid can be found at Chrisnieratko.com or @Nieratko

Latex Catfish dresses, collars, and hoods, American Apparel socks, Privileged shoes

PHOTOS BY ANNETTE LAMOTHE-RAMOS
STYLISTS: MIYAKO BELLIZZI & ANNETTE LAMOTHE-RAMOS

Shoot Assistant: Bobby Viteri
Models: Amanda M. at Rocket Garage and Meagan M.
Special thanks to: Ben Ritter, Don DeVore, and Jesse Miller-Gordon

Click through to see pictures from the rest of the shoot.

Tableaux Vivants bra, bottoms, cape, and rosary, Silja Manninen body harness

Atsuko Kudo collar and hood, Tableaux Vivants bodysuit, FYI by Dani Read belt, vintage necklace

Kiki de Montparnasse glove; Nichole de Carle bra, Tableaux Vivants skirt, L.Jardim body chain, vintage rosary, Fleet Ilya leash

Yohji Yamamoto dress, Fräulein Kink gloves, stylist-made veil

Alon Livne dress, Privileged shoes, Zana Bayne choker, stylist-made veil

FYI by Dani Read bra, skirt, and body harness, Fräulein Kink garters, Tableaux Vivants headpiece, Kiki de Montparnasse gloves

Kiki de Montparnasse gloves; Kaimin jacket, Fräulein Kink pasties and gloves, Tableaux Vivants headpiece and bottoms, Atsuko Kudo thigh-highs

Kiki de Montparnasse bra, Fausto Puglisi skirt, Mania Mania choker, vintage rosary, stylist-made veil

Latex Catfish dress, collar, and hood, vintage rings; American Apparel skirt, vintage rosary; Latex Catfish dress, collar, and hood

Hood By Air shirt

PHOTOS BY AWOL ERIZKU
STYLIST: IAN BRADLEY
ART DIRECTION: ADRIAN PHILLIPS

Stylist Assistants: Dawn Nguyen, Dennine Dyer, Tyrone Walls
Grooming: Michael Anthony
Hair: Triana Francois for Hair
Models: Aly Ndiaye and Randy Bowden at Boss Models NY, Anthony Ruffin at RED, Jeremiah Phiniezy at St. Claire, Keem White, Magor Mbengue, Renald Seme, Ro¯ze Traore, Yunis Torres

All eyes were on Shayne Oliver as he stepped into a sweltering Bronx church in the heat of summer, 2000. The lanky teenager shuffled into the vestibule wearing a short white crop top, exposing his taut midriff. Blots of black skin poked through hand-tattered jeans that were so tight he had to cut them up and safety-pin them back together to get them on. Shayne’s outfit set him drastically apart from the men of the congregation, who wore boxy suits. He and his mother hadn’t even taken seats in a pew before the preacher started spewing a diatribe of venomous, homophobic remarks from the pulpit. It took a moment before Shayne realized the preacher was attacking him. “Basically, the pastor ran me out of the church,” he told me recently. “I stopped going after that.”

Shayne’s now 25 and the designer of menswear label Hood By Air, whose provocative styles—along with brands like Telfar and Third Floor—are carving out a new and empowering palette of masculinity for young black men to paint from. At Shayne’s shows, it’s not out of the ordinary to see his models stalk the runway in makeup and dresses. Their bellies are often exposed, and half the time you can’t tell whether they’re men or women. But far from sissiness, the looks exude the visceral power of a lineman crushing a quarterback, or two swords clashing in an action film. This time last year, at Shayne’s debut New York Fashion Week runway show, the scene was so thick I had to stand on my tiptoes to catch a glimpse of his powerful vision of androgynous modern menswear. With macho gangster rapper A$AP Rocky on the catwalk, and stars like Kanye West and Waka Flocka Flame in the crowd offering up their adulation, the show was the birth of a new epoch in the evolution of black masculinity.

There have been others who’ve pushed similar boundaries in the past. Before Kanye and A$AP, black artists like Sly and the Family Stone in the 60s and Cameo in the 80s wore gear that looked like it was straight out of the Folsom Street Fair. In the 90s, Tupac walked in a Versace fashion show in a flamboyant gold suit.

But one of the things that sets this new wave apart from what came before is that straight men like Kanye and Rocky have no problem recognizing that some of their looks might have originated in the gay community. This kind of inclusiveness and openness is one of the many elements that signifies a shift in the way black men comport themselves in an age when the old notions of machismo, which were burdened with the baggage of 400 years of slavery and Jim Crow, continue to be chipped away.

Luar Zepol shorts, Conflict of Interest shirt, Nike sneakers

Hypermasculinity has long been a way for some black men to deal with the stature and privilege they’ve historically been denied in this country. It’s a reaction to the institutionalized de-masculation that was a crucial part of slavery, in which grown men were reduced to terms like “boy” and “nigger,” subjected to castration, and often forced to watch their wives and daughters get ravaged and raped without recourse or retaliation. That emphasis on machismo in black culture has spawned criticism of the more androgynous new styles hitting the streets courtesy of designers like Shayne. Hip-hop forerunner Lord Jamar, of Brand Nubian fame, recently released a vicious diss track titled “Lift Up Your Skirt,” which refers to Kanye as a “fag” for wearing a “dress” and introducing “skinny jeans to the rap scene.”

“I think [these reactions] have to do with the whole fight of being black and being afraid that it shows weakness and offers a weak image of the black community,” Shayne told me. The systematic emasculation of black men in American culture is such a serious topic, it’s been talked about as a concerted white conspiracy in nearly every black barbershop I’ve set foot in. And considering the farcical and hurtful caricatures portrayed in popular culture—from minstrelsy back in the day to Tyler Perry today—it makes a lot of sense why.

After he left his show on Comedy Central, Dave Chappelle told Oprah, “When I see that they put every black man in the movies in a dress at some point in their career, I start connecting the dots.” The comedian recalled a time when the writer, director, and producer of a film he was working on all tried to convince him to get in drag out of the blue. “I don’t need to wear no dress to be funny! What is this, Brokeback Mountain in here?”

It might seem ridiculous for one man to get so up in arms about the cut and silhouette of another man’s garments, but fashion—going all the way back to the antebellum South—has played a major role in the way some black men express their masculinity. Dr. Akil Houston, a professor of cultural and media studies in the Department of African American Studies at Ohio University, broke down its historical importance for me over the phone.

“You have to remember,” Dr. Houston said, “black men were considered three-fifths of a person for voting purposes during slavery. There weren’t many viable ways for them to assert their manliness. But what they could do was use their body, and historically many black men went to fashion to do that.”

Third NYC pants, Nike sneakers, Native Danger backpack; Hood By Air shirt, Luar Zepol shorts, adidas Originals sneakers; Luar Zepol pants, adidas Originals sneakers; Conflict of Interest shirt, Native Danger shorts, adidas Originals sneakers

The clearest manifestation of this is the tradition of blacks putting on their “Sunday best” for church. Six days a week, enslaved men toiled endlessly in rags not fit to clean the inside of a chimney. Sunday granted them an opportunity to cleanse themselves of the filth of a week’s work and exhibit pride—an essential aspect of masculinity, but a most dangerous emotion to express for a piece of human livestock who wasn’t even granted the freedom to read or write.

The specter of slavery has long had a resounding impact on the masculinity of black men. During slavery, stereotypical qualities of black men—that we are volatile, libidinous, stupid, brutish—were propagated to help justify the practice. Portraying blacks as animals made it more acceptable for them to be treated like animals. And unfortunately, these tropes still rear their ugly heads as a justification by the powers that be today for everything from the execution of stop-and-frisk in New York to the unfair application of Stand Your Ground in Florida.

In black men, these lies can manifest in what W. E. B. Du Bois called a double consciousness, which he described in an 1897 issue of the Atlantic Monthly as the “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” The phenomenon of this double consciousness can often put black men on two distinct paths of masculinity—either to define oneself in direct opposition to those stereotypes or to acquiesce and embody them. In the black ghettos of America, it’s not rare to see more of the latter than the former.

“On the streets, there is a distorted concept of masculinity… When you have holes in your shoes and you see someone getting money, they become your first heroes,” said Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day in the living room of his regal Harlem brownstone. “But real masculinity is not being able to inflict pain. It’s being able to take it.”

Dan was a Harlem hustler who became a fashion legend in the 80s for the luxurious, bespoke menswear garments of his eponymous boutique. The clothes, sported by black celebrities like Mike Tyson and crack kingpins like Alberto “Alpo” Martinez, were emblazoned with the monograms of European fashion houses—Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton—at a time when those companies were mainly producing leather goods and accessories. Eventually, when those fashion houses got wind of what Dap was doing, they sued him out of business but subtly reappropriated his style, which has served as a blueprint for high-end menswear and streetwear alike.

Hood By Air jacket, Native Danger shorts, adidas Originals sneakers

“I [was so] angry, I didn’t even know how angry I was,” he said in revelatory astonishment. Given his impact on the way we dress today, it’s hard to understand why he didn’t become something more than a street legend. Sitting on a lush couch across from me in a rust-colored lambskin leather vest and pants of his own design, Dan tried to explain. “The only thing that ever held me back was… you know, my color didn’t even hold me back as much as my perception of my color.”

The weight of history and the very real racial strife that existed during his day stopped him from seeking alliances with people who might have helped him continue to build his dream.

“I will never allow myself to limit myself to only people like myself again” he said. “There is no growth in that. You need to be [with the] gay, straight, white, black, Spanish, English, everything…” Then he looked over to his son, Jelani, who sat on the opposite couch in all-black sweats and a towering afro, and said with pride, “But my son is not like me, he’s different. He didn’t grow up angry at everything.”

What Dan said about his son echoed so much of what I saw among this new wave of creative artists, who seemed to be aware of the past but not scarred by it. Their distance from the history that shaped men like Dapper Dan have helped them be braver and more equipped to break new ground.

This was evident to me when I met with Darryl “CurT@!n$” Jackson, the brand director of the burgeoning luxury-streetwear label En Noir. When I tried to ask him about blackness and masculinity, he balked. “I’ve never really thought racially. I know that I am black, but what is black?”

Hood By Air shirt, Phlemuns shorts, adidas Originals sneakers, Luar Zepol face mask

At first, I was taken aback by CurT@!n$’s refusal to acknowledge the role race plays in a black man’s life. Especially considering his clothes are sold at Barneys, the luxury department store where blacks have been wrongfully arrested for stealing after lawfully purchasing expensive designer fashion for no other reason than shopping while black.

But I realized, through our talk, it wasn’t that CurT@!n$ denies the existence or history of racism; he simply refuses to allow it to infect his image of himself or the world around him. “If you say, ‘I can touch the ceiling,’ that thought lives in your mind. Even if you can’t physically touch it, you always think you can touch it, you just think, I haven’t done it yet.”

In terms of broadening the scope of masculinity, we haven’t done it yet either. Even Kanye admits he was scared to death of wearing his leather kilt in his hometown Chicago, and Shayne told me that he thinks even today, more than a decade later, that Bronx church would still run him out for his unique look. As James Baldwin brilliantly wrote in his 1955 essay “Stranger in the Village,” which reflects on the legacy of slavery, “People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”

But if he’s right about that—and I think he is—when this new movement of designers and artists eventually becomes our history, it will have the ability to foster a new level of freedom and self-expression. Hopefully we will feel liberated enough to just be ourselves instead of a mere reflection of the pain of the past.

For more on the evolution of black masculinity, look for Wilbert’s complete interviews with Dr. Akil Houston, Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day, and Darryl “CurT@!n$” Jackson.

Follow Wilbert on Twitter @WilbertLCooper

Most professional athletes retire young and rich, which leaves them with a whole lifetime of leisure stretching out before them. To fill the void, many open restaurants or turn into motivational speakers, or just sit around gambling and smoking cigars, a la Michael Jordan. But Derek Jeter, the 39-year-old New York Yankees star known for his good looks and giving gift baskets to his one-night stands, appears to be prepping for his approaching retirement in a different way: by endorsing a fancy new line of $100 boxer briefs called Frigo RevolutionWear.

I got a pair of these superstar shorts at the Frigo launch party held in Manhattan in November, but it took me a couple of months to get around to trying them out—frankly, I was intimidated by them.

This underwear is very, very complicated. The leg holes have rubber rings inside them, so you have to tug them up your legs and thighs, pulling hair out along the way. You’re then tasked with rolling your dick and balls into as compact a sphere as you can make in order to cram your package into a pouch in the front of the underwear called the Frigo Zone. Does Jeter have a teeny weiner? That was my first thought as I rammed my twig-and-berries into the “zone.”

But once I got adjusted, the feeling was nice—my dick and balls were at perfect equilibrium. I couldn’t feel them hanging down as they usually did, but neither could I feel anything hoisting them up. My man-parts were literally levitating. For all I knew, I might have turned into a plastic-smooth Ken doll down there.

It’s a bewildering sensation (I’m not used to that much wind on my taint) and it also is really, really flattering from the side, as you can see from the photo. It always feels like one ball or the other is going to fall out, but they never do. If this is the way Jeter always feels, I can’t imagine what his life is like.

When I sat down at my desk at work, my balls didn’t touch the seat of the chair. My ghostly junk was four inches away from what I was sitting on—I could cross my legs with ease and pretty much ignore the fact that I had a penis, which after two and a half decades of always being conscious of it was kind of amazing. At one point my dick head migrated leftward and got caught in a Bermuda triangle created by the intersection of the hoisting straps, the Frigo sling pouch, and the exterior wall of the undies, which wasn’t fun, but when I had to pee it was no problem to whip it free from the pouch. Putting my guys back in the Zone, however, made me feel like I was forcing a puppy into a too-small crate.

I don’t know if Jeter wears his own underwear when he plays or when he’s out on the town. I can imagine that the Frigo Zone might become comfortable once you got used to it, and there could be that additional thrill of having your dick and balls levitated in a ludicrously expensive undergarment that plebs could never appreciate because they can’t afford it. All I know is that when I wore them to bed, my junk wrestled itself blissfully free of the Frigo Zone while I was asleep. I like to think that I’m pretty in tune with my body, so I tossed them in the laundry basket and forgot about them.

Yet I may forever wonder if my experience would have been more positive had I tried the higher-end version—it comes with vents in the butt, for farting.

Tableaux Vivants bra

PHOTOS BY RICHARD KERN
STYLIST: MIYAKO BELLIZZI

Creative Director: Annette Lamothe-Ramos
Photo Assistant: Colin Sussingham
Stylist Assistant: Lyndsea Lamarr
Makeup: James Boehmer at Nars
Makeup Assistant: Jenny Smith at Nars
Hair: Thanos Samaras at L’Atelier NYC
Models: Akitsune Takemsura, Bobby Viteri, Christelle De Castro, Claire Christerson, Ehren at NEXT, Marcel Castenmiller at DNA, Mike Bailey Gates, Sarah Grace Powell

Nike sports bra

Tess Giberson jacket, Shadowplaynyc dress, A-Morir sunglasses, Arielle de Pinto necklace

Starter jacket, Unif top, Joyrich pants, Timberland boots, vintage bandana and watch, Gypsy Sport cap, Nixon headphones

Issey Miyake jacket, 6397 jumpsuit, Hanes tank, model’s own earrings

Ammerman Schlösberg dress, Parkchoonmoo tank dress, Won Hundred knit dress, Mordekai choker chain, vintage ring

Koonhor top, Camilla and Marc skirt, American Apparel thigh-highs, Tableaux Vivants headpiece, Cheap Monday necklace, vintage belt, Arielle de Pinto bracelet, Lady Grey ring, Hadria ring

Issey Miyake top, Won Hundred shorts, H0les sunglasses, vintage chain

K]Joyrich sweater, Gypsy Warrior dress, vintage jewelry

Luar Zepol top and pants

Photo by E.Hanazaki Photography/Getty Images

In December, the University of Michigan released the results of a survey that, among other things, asked Middle Easterners what style of dress was appropriate for women to wear in public. Participants were invited to choose between various styles of Muslim head coverings, like burqas, chadors, and niqabs. The results showed that people from conservative nations like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan generally favored the face-concealing niqab, while most Egyptians, Tunisians, Turks, and Iraqis preferred traditional hijabs, which cover the hair and leave the face exposed.

These results aren’t particularly surprising, and neither is the fact that Middle Eastern women and men largely shared the same preferences. Though some Westerners associate Muslim religious head coverings with the oppression of women, many Muslim women view the hijab—a blanket term used to denote any form of traditional head covering—as a source of empowerment. During the Arab Spring–inspired protests against Hosni Mubarak, some Egyptian women wore hijabs to protest a ban against headscarves on state television.

According to Shereen El Feki, a researcher and the author of Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World, many young Muslim women cover themselves to gain more independence from their parents. “They feel that their parents think these girls are good Muslim girls, therefore they don’t exercise as much vigilance and the girls get more latitude in their lives,” she told me. “They may get to travel, they may get to move around, and they have more mobility.”

Another common misconception about head coverings is that it is always worn as a statement of extreme religious modesty. “The women wearing hijab who I spoke to for my book have just as much sexual desire,” said Shereen. “Women put on hijab for a variety of reasons, not just to desexualize themselves.”

In her book, Shereen describes young Egyptian women who regularly cover their hair, necks, and shoulders, yet walk down the streets of downtown Cairo in stiletto heels, makeup, and tight jeans. “They’re like fantastical birds-of-paradise arrangements,” she told me. “On one hand, they’re trying to conform to what was the increasingly conservative climate. On the other, they’re young women, so they want to be attractive to men.”

The hijab certainly doesn’t protect women from sexual harassment. A UN survey that made the rounds on the internet last summer said that 99 percent of Egyptian women experience some form of sexual harassment, though most of them cover their heads.

Thanks to longstanding cultural and religious traditions, sex is rarely discussed in many Middle Eastern countries, even between married couples. In spite of this, Arab women have found creative ways to signal their desires to their husbands. Lingerie shops throughout the region sell all kinds of lacey and racy items and Syria in particular is known for outrageous intimate apparel. The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie, a 2008 book by Malu Halasa, describes fur-lined panties and underwear that come equipped with fake flowers and birds. According to Halassa, shops continue to sell lingerie in Damascus despite the turmoil and conflict there.

In more conservative Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, niqabs are popular in public forums, but in private it’s another story. Weddings are sometimes segregated by gender, which leaves the women free to wear extravagant gowns with plunging necklines. “Women from the Gulf are some of the best customers of haute couture,” said Shereen. Their wedding parties are showrooms of beautiful potential brides, clad in the latest fashions for their friends—among them the mothers of would-be suitors.

When dress codes are loosened in these situations, security is tightened. Shereen told me that photos are prohibited at such parties, and guests are required to check their phones at the door to protect the women’s privacy. “It’s a very complex dichotomy between the public and private,” she told me. “It’s night and day in many cases.”

@notsovanilla

A large white van parked in front of Lincoln Center, in uptown Manhattan, on Thursday evening. Its roof opened up, and a portable projection device popped out, taking aim at the sprawling, block-long complex that was hosting one of the most prestigious events in the world of high-end retail. Images captured in the aftermath of a disaster began flashing on Lincoln Center's white walls: dead bodies covered by blankets and lined up in a row, the pain-distorted face of a woman carried on a stretcher, a man letting out an anguished scream.

Inside, New York Fashion Week was underway. Tall, skinny people strutted back and forth to the cicada-like snap of cameras flashing. Outside, beneath the images of despair, a group of labor activists were also marching back and forth, chanting and beating drums.

Photojournalist Ismail Ferdous had arranged the spectacle. The photographs were his, taken in the wake of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 24, 2013, when more than 1,100 people perished.

“I want New Yorkers to think about who is making the clothes they wear,” Ismail told me. “Where I come from, garment workers are earning just $68 a month and giving their lives to sew these clothes.” 

“What is the cost of fashion?” read Ismail's final projection, just before police had a chat with the crew in the van and the vehicle sped off. It was a question that wasn't paritcularly targeted at the small designers and fashion houses that have their wares made by artisans and use fashion as a form of protest and expression—it was directed at fast-fashion and big-box retailers that try to cash in on the cache of fashoin week and look to the event to discern future trends. Worker-rights advocates want to set a trend of their own, however.

“Mainstream companies pay attention to what happens at fashion week and then knock off the designs,” said Eric Dirnbach, with the Laborers' International Union. “This protest is really about how the whole fashion industry operates. It goes by a sweat-shop model.”

Bangladesh is the world's second largest clothing producer. Garments encompass 80 percent of the country's exports, mainly from contractors supplying to Western markets. Unions are legal on paper, but when it comes to actually forming one, activists often face repression from their bosses and the state. Working conditions can be deadly.

At least 117 employees were burned alive or jumped to their deaths at the Tazreen fashion factory, near Dhaka, when a fire broke out on November 24, 2012. The incident put a global spotlight on conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry, but such events are common in a country where building-code enforcement is lackadaisical at best and where, just five months later, the floors gave way at Rana Plaza.

According to the most widely reported account, 1,135 people were killed in the collapse. But nearly 200 bodies have yet to be found. This means these families have not received the $1,559 in compensation allotted to victims' survivors by Bangladeshi authorities. Nor were they given the monthly stipend, equivalent to the wages the dead would have earned, provided until last month by the Irish brand Primark. The clothing outlet is just one of 23 retailers whose apparel was under production at Rana when the structure gave way. 

In October, Primark and eight other firms tied to the factory disaster agreed to work with the global union IndustriALL to establish a $74.6 million trust for families of the dead and the nearly 2,500 injured. Details are still being hashed out, and it remains unclear if the funds will go to the relations of those who have not yet been added to the official roster of Rana's crushed and suffocated.

Brands notably absent from the deal struck with IndustriALL include large US chains such as Walmart, the world's largest retailer, and the Children's Place. In fact, immediately following the disaster, the Children's Place released a statement distancing itself from the tragedy, saying that its clothing was not under production at Rana. Nevertheless, as the New York Times was quick to point out, customs documents showed the Children's Place had received a two-ton shipment from a contractor operating at Rana just three weeks prior to the collapse.

After picketing in front of Lincoln Center, activists headed uptown to pay the Children's Place a visit at an Upper West Side location. A bewildered manager in the mostly empty store greeted the activists as they paraded in, drums pounding, and handed him a letter calling on the retailer to pay restitution for victims of the factory collapse

Beyond compensation, labor rights groups want the Children's Place and other multimillion-dollar clothiers to agree to new building and fire-safety standards they say will prevent future catastrophes. Puma, Adidas, Esprit, H&M, and Target are among the outlets who have agreed to the accord. But there are still plenty of large firms, like Walmart and the Children's Place, that have balked at signing.

Until they do so, “Americans should buy responsibly,” said Ismail. “You might be getting a deal when you buy a T-shirt for $10 or $12 dollars, but ultimately it means the person who made it is suffering.”

In a survey released by the British polling group YouGov ahead of London Fashion Week last fall, three in four respondents said they would pay more for clothing produced “ethically.” But household wealth is falling in the US, with median incomes down 8.3 percent since the recession, according to census figures—accounting for, at least in part, the popularity of those $10 T-shirts.

If any retailer can afford to be ethical it's Walmart. Doug McMillon, president and CEO of the $17 billion company, is expected to make $30 million in salary, bonuses, and stock options over the next three years. During that time, a garment worker paid the minimum wage in Bangladesh will have taken home $2,448—provided, of course, he remains alive. 

@JohnReedsTomb

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Even if her dangling rhinestone earrings didn’t spell it out, Gerlan Marcel is a boss. Since 2009, the fashion designer behind Gerlan Jeans has been blowing minds with her collections that feature loud prints and a fuck-off attitude. When I met Gerlan at her design studio in Brooklyn last month, her shiny earrings were resting against her long braided blond pigtails, topped with a white skull cap and an inside-out Gerlan Jeans baseball cap.

Gerlan was born in London, but her family relocated to Ohio, which is also where I am from. She attended boarding school in Glastonbury and art school in London, which explains why her style far surpasses that of anyone I ever met during my time growing up in the Buckeye State. Her collections reflect her affinity for Midwestern mall culture, reconceptualizing an aesthetic that is reminiscent of the things I bought at Hot Topic during my edgy high school phase—only she has the ability to make a dress covered in slime actually look sexy. While studying fabric printing at Central St. Martins in the UK, Gerlan interned with fashion oddball Jeremy Scott and later worked with Patricia Field, two designers who undoubtedly helped put Gerlan on the path to push the boundaries of traditional fashion with her own brand.

Gerlan's colorful all-over prints draw on early 90s imagery with designs inspired by Goosebumps, girl power, and Minnie Mouse. She has collaborated with brands like Disney, Joyrich, and, most recently, Puma. Divas like Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Rita Ora have all been seen rocking the designer’s trademark pieces. With the recent release of her Puma Disc Blaze collaboration and the upcoming drop of her fall/winter 2014 collection, I decided to chat with the designer. We talked about her love of malls, going on tour with the Grateful Dead, and the politics of fashion, while photographer Brayden Olson took a few pics around her showroom.

VICE: What was it like growing up in two different countries?
Gerlan Jeans: My mother is from Liverpool and my dad is from Brooklyn, but we relocated to Ohio. I went to boarding school in the UK, so I had the best of both worlds. During those formative years, I had stuff like Top of the Pops and American culture. That melding of worlds definitely influences my aesthetic.

How long were you in Ohio?
I pretty much grew up there. I attended high school in the US, but I had come from a British boarding school, so it was a little bit of a culture shock. I was used to a totally different world, where you stand up when the teacher walks into the room and you call them sir. I have a whole collection inspired by that transition between tween and teen, a very important and exciting time period for me. Watching style develop stays with you as you get older.

You had to wear a uniform during boarding school. How was that?
Yes, I totally wore a uniform. I remember I’d do anything I could to make it cooler. I was obsessed with shoe clips. You had to wear Doc Martens, which seems cool now, but it wasn’t at the time because it was my school shoe. I would get all these shoe clips with bows or diamonds and clip them on my shoes. That was my specialty. On the weekends we could wear our own clothes. I vividly remember coming back to the states and getting my play clothes there because they didn’t have that stuff in the UK. It was special. My parents would take me to T.J.Maxx and the sale rack at United Colors of Benetton. I lived for picking out those weekend looks.

You often talk about your love for Midwestern mall culture. What did you like so much about it?
I was never one of those kids who knew how to say Givenchy or had ads of Calvin Klein on my wall. Going to the mall was the most exciting thing ever. Looking back on it, each store was its own hyper-realized world. There was a store called Ups and Downs and it was my one-stop shop to get everything worn in the Madonna Like a Virgin album. It felt like I was entering a different universe when I went into one of those stores, and this was in Ohio, not Paris or London. That is how I grew up building my own style and loving clothes. I think that visceral experience stayed with me. That is part of something that has disappeared from High Street since the advent of fast fashion. You find it obviously with niche and expensive ready-to-wear brands, but the original mission of Gerlan Jeans was to bring that back to High Street. Obviously my price point is not there, which comes with mass-market distribution and that level of manufacturing ability, but that is the ultimate goal.

You mentioned that you weren’t always into high-end fashion, so when did you realize you wanted to be a designer?
I don’t have any real memories of that being something I wanted to do. I started out in a very traditional sense: painting and drawing. Then I realized I really liked working with fiber materials. I started printing and designing surfaces, but I didn’t really know what to do with them. It felt too flat to print something and cover a couch in it. It needed to be worn and transformed through the personality of somebody. This happened in tandem to graduating high school and going on tour with the Grateful Dead for three years.

What was touring with the Grateful Dead like?
It was a serious West-to-East-Coast tour. To make money I started to sell clothes. Every two weeks we would get a hotel room. I had my sewing machine, so I would just buzz, buzz, buzz, but I didn’t know anything. I call them boob curtains, but what I would make was a strip of fabric that went around your boobs that I would pleat, literally like a curtain piece, to the bottom. My mother went to a Liberty of London sale in the 70s, and she bought all of this beautiful fabric. Somehow I inherited it and I ended up making half of these Grateful Dead lot dresses out of vintage fabrics. That is ridiculous looking back on it, but some people were very lucky.

Is Grateful Dead still on your playlist?
They are still on my list. I have never done a Grateful Dead collection, but that imagery is always a part of every collection. So this season we definitely pay homage to that world. 

So going on tour introduced you to your love for fashion design.
I think that was something that made me realize this was really something that I wanted to do.  When I decided that, then it was about learning it as a technical skill. That is where St. Martins came into play. I didn’t go to St. Martins knowing what it was. I had no idea that it was this seminal fashion program. I just felt that with a British passport, I should be in the UK. It felt like more of an art form there, unlike New York, where it feels like more of a trade.

Do you think studying in London helped you develop your aesthetic?
It wasn’t just London; it was St. Martins—specifically Natalie Gibson. She actually just got an MBE from the queen, which is a Member of the British Empire for her contribution to textiles. It goes to show how much the UK government supports the arts. The time I spent there—I cannot say enough incredible things about it. I did a studio-based course where we were printing everything and designed a full collection ourselves. It was really about making fully original work. There was no store bought fabric made into something. You didn’t have to sell any of the clothes, so if you wanted to put 15 sleeves on something and you couldn’t use any of them, so fucking be it. Eventually you are going to have buyers, so it’s that one time period where you can do whatever the hell you want.

Is there a certain era you like to channel with your prints?
I think that a lot of your aesthetics are built at an early age. I was coming of age, during the late 80s early 90s. I am a very nostalgic person, so that is a reference point for me, but it’s not about picking an era and recreating it. I am not here to repeat the past; I am here to present the future. I love what the language and iconic graphic imagery of that time period evokes.

You have a lot of feminist themes in your collections, are you doing something political?
Weirdly enough for the Gerl Power show, I had already designed those pieces before any of the Pussy Riot movement happened. The whole point of that collection was to show that there are many types of girl power. You can be wearing a slut babe dress and be outside Marquee, but if you own it, than there are unbelievable amounts of power and femininity in that statement. I don’t think hardcore about the political aspects of it, but I think fashion is part of the political landscape, every kind of creative pursuit is. The whole concept of Gerlan Jeans is inclusivity. Every season is about celebrating differences and individuality. Fashion design is pretty male-dominated in a lot of ways, so I feel empowered as a woman to be making clothes for women.

What can you tell me about the upcoming collection?
The collection is called Sweet Dreamz: A Psychedelic Slumber Party That's Too Kawaii to Live! It’s like Kawaii on acid, pretty much. It starts as a cozy slumber-party print, which is the “Fuck you, hibiscus” on a polar fleece. I am taking a classic puffer coat and totally revolutionizing it and turning it into indoor looks. There are tiered skirts and puffed backpacks and scarves. As part of the Kawaii cuteness, is the debut of the Gerlémons. We are introducing 25 new Gerlémons this season, so you have to collect and trade them all. We are working on an actual video game, and they will soon be available as emojis that you can download.

Is there anything else you are working on?
Solange is now art directing for Puma’s Girls of Blaze Disc collection, so I am collaborating with her on that. That has been incredibly exciting. Also, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is opening a seminal Patrick Kelly exhibition at the end of April with over 2,500 pieces. The curator of the museum reached out to me and said, “I know you are incredibly influenced by him; we would love to include you in the exhibition to show his influence in design and culture today.” So I am going to have a show there as part of the Patrick Kelly exhibit. His exhibit will be called Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love, and mine will be called Gerlan Jeans Loves Patrick Kelly. It is about 16 to 17 archival pieces from the past 10 seasons of Gerlan Jeans.

@EricaEuse

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Jean Paul Gaultier corset, vintage kimono, Issey Miyake belt, stylist-made shoes, Takayuki Shibata headpiece

PHOTOS BY STOLTZE AND STEFANIE
STYLIST: JULIEN ALLEYNE

Photo Assistants: Felix Glasmeyer and Steven Yatsko
Stylist Assistant: Milton Dixon
Set Designer: Ian Salter at De Facto
Set Design Assistant: James Glyant
On-Site Producer: Andres Burgos
Casting Director: Edward Kim at the Edit Desk
Makeup: Kento Utsubo
Makeup Assistant: Mayumi Kibe
Hair: Takayuki Shibata and Michiko Yoshida using Bumble and bumble
Models: Aishika and Li Ming at Ford, Jaunel Mckenzie at Fusion, Tatyana Cooper at the Lions, Nykhor Paul at Red, Victoria Brito at Muse
Special thanks to: New York Vintage

Stylist-made top, Dinosaur Designs necklaces, Takayuki Shibata hair band

Anna Stephenson dress, Cornelia Webb necklace, Takayuki Shibata hair band

Thierry Mugler dress, Marc Jacobs top, Jennifer Fisher earrings and rings

Madeline Gruen dress, Issey Miyake belt; Alberta Ferretti dress, Madeleine Provost skirt, Azzedine Alaïa belt

Alexander McQueen dress, stylist-made shoulder tassels, Wouters & Hendrix rings, Takayuki Shibata headpiece

Marc Jacobs dress, Cornelia Webb choker, Takayuki Shibata headpiece

Photo by the Leafhopper Project

Assaad Awad makes fashion that scares the living shit out of people. This Lebanese-born, Madrid-based designer spent 14 years in advertising before quitting to open up his own workshop, and today he specializes in outfits and accessories that wouldn’t be out of place in a Flash Gordon villain’s filthy rape basement.               

Assaad has made reflective gold and silver armor for a Thierry Mugler Paris Fashion Week show, a dress made out of wood for Lady Gaga, and ancient Egyptian-esque crowns for Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime performance. He also crafts bondage gear for a less famous and much odder private clientele, which is mostly what I wanted to talk to him about when I met him (at his suggestion) in the cellar of a Madrid fetish shop.

VICE: How does someone raised in a very conservative country like Lebanon become a luxury fetish designer?
Assaad Awad: It doesn’t matter where you’re born—if the fetish is inside you it will come out at some point in your life. You simply cannot hide it. It will come out sooner or later. And sooner is better, because we only live once.

What’s sex like in Lebanon?
There’s a lot of respect. It’s like cooking in a microwave versus three hours on a low flame—the way it tastes is better, you get to where you want to be, and everything explodes.

I’m not sure I get what you mean.
In Europe, you go out for a drink, you get tipsy, flirt with someone, take them home, have sex, and don't even ask for his or her name. That is microwave sex. On the other hand, because of the taboos in the Arab world, fetish sex [in Lebanon] has a totally different approach. It is cooked on coal, the old-fashioned way. As we all know, the longer you cook on a low flame, the more the taste is enhanced. This is the way it’s done where I come from. You heat up your partner, meet them more than once, and then invite him or her to taste your recipe. That’s what I call a hot dish.

Is it more open-minded there than in Spain?
Everything forbidden is desired. The fetish world is like a game, a role-play, but in the Arab world it has two sides: one is the game, the other is the forbidden, real-life fact. So it is twice as powerful.

So there’s a lot of weird stuff going on in Lebanon, I take it.
Some of the weirdest special orders I’ve had were from Arabs living and working in Beirut. Most of the stuff I make for those guys you can’t even FedEx—it just gets blocked [by the government]. The only way is to send a person off with their luggage full of fetish accessories. Custom-made wall-mounted harnesses, strap-ons, dildo holders, spikes… Many clients want to get fucked by a strap-on placed on their partner’s quadriceps, knees, or even back. My last project was really fun to work on: It’s a kind of a rabbit vibrator fixed on a leather backpack-like bag, so the first partner would wear it on his back, and the other would mount his back just like a horse and get pleasure that way.

Wow.
What I’ve learned from my clients and their behavior is that the more powerful your role in society is, the more you want to be humiliated by your mistress or master. It kind of offers you what the real world cannot offer, because you need to be strong and mean at work to meet expectations. In your private world, you just want to give away this authority, to reset your energy, to fuel up, to be able to be even meaner in the real world.

Fashion Week has hit New York City again, and big, fancy designers are showing their latest collections for fall/winter 2014. So we went to a few shows to figure out what all the Tumblr goofballs, twinks, and trust-funders will be wearing in autumn. Keep checking back frequently throughout the week for our reviews of the shows at MADE Fashion Week, Lincoln Center, and more.

BETSEY JOHNSON

Last year, Betsey Johnson filed for bankruptcy. This surprised many of her fans—the Betsey Johnson brand is Versace for mallrats who love scrunchies and polka dots—but I thought the news was fitting. After all, the only event more over-the-top than a bankruptcy filing is a Betsey Johnson fashion show. And if this season’s show proved anything, it was that Betsey’s decadent problems haven’t stopped her decadent production.

One model wore a faux-fur pink coat over a blue and pink ensemble, and another wore a white pimp coat I assume Betsey stole from Cruella de Vil. The only similarity between any of the looks was that all the models’ faces reminded me of Justin Jedlica—the man who had plastic surgery to look like a Ken doll. Besides a few gorgeous bright red and gold gowns, most of the outfits looked like Lisa Franks’s vomit after a late-night coke bender at a Lisa Frank coloring-book factory. But I forgot about all the neon puke I saw immediately when a model in a red dress threw her arms in the air, fog went everywhere, and two sexy, half-naked firefighters emerged as Betsey and two little girls walked down the stage. Watching this, I thought about two security guards’ conversation I overheard as I waited for the show to start. One guard asked who Betsey was. “She’s the [designer] who does the flips and stuff,” the other guard said. “Oh. That’s why it’s so crowded!”

—By Mitchell Sunderland

MARIA KE FISHERMAN

When I heard María Lemus and Victor Alonso, the design duo behind Maria ke Fisherman, would be showing at MADE Fashion week this season, I couldn’t wait to see their collection in person. My love for the brand started after I saw bad-ass rapper Brooke Candy rocking their sexy cyberpunk pieces, but my affinity for them only grew after I wrote a piece on them last April for VICE. This show was the first time the Spanish designers were exhibiting their collection in New York, and I knew they would kill it.

Staying true to the their previous collections, the designers channeled the 90s, from their music to their models. A fluffy, colorful MkF-branded crop top, a tight denim spaghetti-strap dress, and a plaid miniskirt and bra were just some of the throwback-inspired looks. Many of the girls, in high ponytails and tattoo choker necklaces, clunked down the runway in white platform sneakers that would make the Spice Girls proud. The whole collection reminded me of adult versions of the clothing I used to love buying at Limited Too in elementary school.

The designers told me previously that they are most inspired during their morning hangovers, so they must have sipped on something real good the night before they came up with this collection. I really need to find out where they party. 

—By Erica Euse

JEREMY SCOTT

Another season, another collection, and another year of smileys for Jeremy Scott. Jeremy is the only designer who can make an outfit out of what looks like a deconstructed basketball and not hear some shit talking on our end. There was something about this athletics-themed collection that really got our imaginations going. The plastic chokers, belts, and thigh-highs made from sports guards were surprisingly sexy. He even made tube socks seem more erotic than usual. And I have to say that finding a hot babe like Gigi Hadid inside a tubesock is a hell of a lot better than what you're normally going to find in there. 

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos 

PATRIK ERVELL

Patrik Ervell's shows are often a slow burn for me, partly because many of the qualities that make his garments so sought after lie in their subtle details. He's not on a mission to put men into anything fussy or belabored or trendy—he operates completely outside the hype machine. And his growth as designer has been along a gradual trajectory. Nothing blows up in your face, but nothing comes crashing down either. He returns back to the same staples again and again, adding little innovations and improvements—whether it's the club collar he made popular or his silk-lined unstructured blazers, which I covet. 

Once again, it was the little things that made this collection really dope for me. He introduced a new pentagon-shaped logo, which looks awesome and adorns a lot of his new outwear. And he experimented with a new faux fur that was originally used on high-end German teddy bears. He's treated the fur in all kinds of different colors and fitted it onto familiar silhouettes, like a classic varsity. But the piece I'd like to take home, however, is his black leather bomber, which he executed in a perfect minimal design. With this collection, Patrik continues to stand out by just being himself and perfecting his vision instead of bending to whims based on what everyone else is doing. 

—By Wilbert L. Cooper

CUTECIRCUIT

The problem with avant-garde fashion is that it’s amazing to look at but terrible to wear. I love editorial layouts that include LED lights and masks, but I would never wear a glow-in-the-dark suit to a party—I don’t want to look like Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Walking into the show for CuteCircuit, the brand behind Katy Perry’s tour dress, I knew I would have to fight the urge to roll my eyes. When two models in blond wigs walked into the Hudson Hotel at the start of the show, I started to laugh at the Matrix-style clothes, but then the models pulled out iPhones and started typing on them, and I realized I was wrong—silver pants and white gowns decorated in LED lights are both beautiful and wearable.

—By Mitchell Sunderland

DIESEL

This season, VICE didn't send someone on acid to the Diesel Black Gold presentation. Instead, I decided to cover the show free of gimmicks and was actually impressed by what I saw. Some of these sexy fembot/astronaut looks were done in the 60s by designers like Paco Rabanne and Pierre Cardin, but Diesel gave them a strong modern twist. Many of the garments looked like they could have easily come straight out of PJ Harvey's closet in the early 90s or been designed by Hedi Slimane. I loved the collection, and I would claw a bitch's eyes out just to get my hands on some of that silver leather. The presentation was so epic, I almost wish I had been on acid just for the hell of it. 

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos 

MARK McNAIRY

I was almost convinced that I had walked into a time portal and been transported back to last fashion week, due to the serious déjà vu I experienced during the Mark McNairy New Amsterdam show. The Heinekein beers, the camo prints, the token old guy—they all looked so familiar. The male models sported Mark’s signature pieces with long overcoats and printed trousers. The women, including Mark's daughter Daisy, were clad in oversized sweaters, baggy khakis, and thermal leggings. One ensemble paid tribute to GQ creative director Jim Moore with a T-shirt stating, “Jim Fucking Moore.” After seeing that, I thought about finding Jim and asking him tips for making friends with Mark, since I could barely get him to talk to me when I interviewed him last year, let alone print my name on anything. 

But let’s be honest—most people weren’t there to be surprised. Mark has a great thing going, so why change it? The most exciting part of his shows is seeing who will close out the presentation. Last season it was Pusha T; before that it was Danny Brown. After the last look—a long camo fur coat draped over a charcoal pinstripe suit—went down the runway, everyone waited in anticipation to see which celebrity it would be. Then from behind the wall came Cam’ron in a fur-lined cape, with his fiancée, JuJu. As the couple strolled down the runway hand-in-hand, bringing the show to an end, the glorious sound of “Hey Ma” blasted through the speakers. 

—By Erica Euse

TELFAR

Telfar... Telfar, Telfar, Telfar... Telfar. Telfar? Telfar? Telfar. Telfar—Telfar, Telfar, Telfar. Telfar? Telfar! Telfar. Telfar?! Telfar. Telfar... Telfar... Telfar. Telfar. Telfar. Telfar... Telfar? Telfar;  Telfar—Telfar, Telfar, Telfar. Telfar? Telfar—Telfar, Telfar,  Telfar. Telfar? Telfar! Telfar. Telfar?! Telfar. Telfar. Telfar... Telfar, Telfar, Telfar... Telfar. Telfar? Telfar? Telfar. Telfar—Telfar, Telfar, Telfar. Telfar? Telfar! Telfar. Telfar?! Telfar. Telfar... Telfar... Telfar. Telfar. Telfar. Telfar... Telf ar?  Telfar; Telfar—Telfar,  Telfar, Telfar. Telfar? Telfar—Telfar, Telfar,  Telfar. Telfar? Telfar! Telfar. Telfar?! Telfar. 

Telfar.

Telfar?! 

TELFAR!

—By Telfar!

TIM COPPENS

It's hard to find the perfect balance between classic casual menswear and the kind of clothing you just want to wear as you chill around your house and veg out. But Tim Coppens's weekend runway show somehow managed to strike the nail on the head. His mountain-climber-inspired collection featured nicely tailored, polar fleece flannels, clean-cut button-down shirts, white sneakers, and... wait for it... SWEATPANTS! I think we finally have a collection that Mr. Rogers himself would be content with. The designs are so epic that you can wear them out on the street during the day without looking like a bum. And they are so comfortable that you don't need to change your clothes the second you walk through your door. And any kind of clothing that can be worn outdoors as well as around the house is exactly what we like to get down with. Comfort first!

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos 

KOONHOR

When I saw the bad-ass military-inspired work wear come down the runway at the beginning of Koonhor's show, I knew this collection was meant for a strong, independent woman you don't want to fuck with. All the pieces put a modern twist on garments from a past era. The first wave of models looked like they were leaving for battle in their army jacket dresses and pleated military pants. These tough looks were in contrast to the end of the show, which featured beautiful lace dresses in lighter hues. This show was a reminder that women can now take on both roles: masculine and feminine.

—By Miyako Bellizzi

PYER MOSS

The fall/winter Pyer Moss collection is basically a combination of every stylish James Dean–obsessed gay boy I know who went to RISD for graphic design and wears thick framed glasses, even though he has 20/20 vision. This is the kinds of shy-yet-adorable wallflower you meet standing in the corner at a Brooklyn loft party, drinking whiskey on the rocks while trying to talk your ear off about a 1980s transgression film and what's new at MoMA PS.1. You'll become friends with him and attend fancy dinner parties at Marina Abramovic's house and go to glamorous art openings in Chelsea, until one day he finally finds a boy to fall in love with and suddenly no longer needs a pretty girl to accompany him to events. But every now and then you'll see him in line at a busy downtown party that no one can get into because they're not on the list. He'll lock eyes with you from the doorway, tap the bouncer on the shoulder, and even though you haven't spoken to each other in years, he'll cooly whisper into the bouncer's ear that "she's with me." Then he'll wink at you as he disappears into a sea of fashion assholes who just flew in from Paris or some bullshit...

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos 

QUARTER WATER

I had a few vodka cranberries, some white Russians, and a bowl of Halal-style lamb and rice at Quarter Water's presentation last Friday. The grub was cool, but it kind of sucked that Quarter Water didn't actually serve any quarter waters. The theme of the collection was "Bodega Dreams." All of the imagery on their gear was ripped from AriZona Iced Teas and Zebra cakes and whatnot—but they didn't serve any bodega treats, either! Nevertheless, there was a lot of shirtless dudes in ski masks…

—By Nick Sethi

HIGHLAND

It probably wasn't Highland's intention to create a Bill Murray–inspired collection. Unfortunately for them, it totally made me think of The Life Aquatic. Bill Murray's name popped into my head while I stood at Milk's MADE Fashion Week listening to whale calls as Highland models loitered around in puffy coats and stoic poses. In that moment, I probably was the happiest I'd been all week. Their Arctic-explorer-themed fall line is the kind of attire one could only hope to find onself in when stranded in the middle of nowhere. I'm not one for cold climates, but if there is a chance that I could look half as good as their models did decked out in snowy active wear while I freeze my ass off in Antarctica, defending myself against a bunch of polar bears and former cohorts who have lost their fucking minds and are trying to kill/eat me, then sign me up for the next expedition.

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos 

ZANA BAYNE

This was Zana’s first runway show at New York Fashion Week, and she definitely came out with a bang. It was by far the most beautiful one I’ve seen this week. As the models walked up and down the runway, I heard the sounds of “ooh” and “ah” echo around room. Softer than her previous seasons, this collection incorporated more lingerie and intricate designs.

By using belt straps as bras, sheer gloves and tool skirts, leather leg wraps, and face tassels, this was leather bondage at its absolute best. There were leather skirts in impossible shapes that I never knew could be made. This show was very special for me, since I’ve known the designer since before she started playing with leather. I'm so proud and ecstatically excited for Zana. She started this trend of leather in high fashion a few years back and will continue to rise with success. Get it girl!

—By Miyako Bellizzi

CUSHNIE ET OCHS

"The perfect party outfit for the basic bitch who wants to feel cool on a night out”—this should be the tagline for the latest collection by Cushnie et Ochs. It sums up everything I saw at their show at MADE Fashion Week, starting with the basic bitches who attended it and ending with Kelly Rowland doing an interview at the close of the show. Basic bitchness aside, I enjoyed a few of the dresses that came down the runway. I was even down with the collection's Western aesthetic, though I have no idea why anyone would wear a cocktail dress with a cowboy hat. Some pieces were cute in "their own way" and would make the perfect bridesmaid dresses in an LA wedding. I'm not sure why diarrhea green was the accent color of choice in this show, but maybe it would work with the right skin tone? This collection was definitely better than last season's, but I think the brand will need to refine its designs more before I can fuck with it... or not.

—By Miyako Bellizzi

ROCHAMBEAU

This time around at MADE Fashion Week at Milk, Rochambeau put on a presentation that appeared to have a racing theme. The showcase boasted big scraps of a real car and two race queens waving checkered flags. Even though designers Joshua Cooper and Laurence Chandler toned down their otherworldly aesthetic with this collection, I loved the fact that I could see these clothes being worn by cool guys on the street. And the styling didn't just make the models look fresh; they also looked pretty sexy. Who doesn't love a tall dude in some expertly tailored outwear, layered sweats, and untucked button-down shirts? There was also something really alluring about the rich red hues used in the collection that made the whole presentation extra-hot. Even the creepy model with the face mask, who seemed like he came straight out of The Silence of the Lambs, could have taken me home. But my favorite look was actually worn by the prop race queens. I'm dying to get into one of Rochambeau's black leather catsuits.

—By Erica Euse

ECKHAUS LATTA

Eckhaus Latta's show took place at the Standard Hotel in a wood-paneled room that looked like a bar mitzvah reception area. The show kicked off with the soothing sound of a woman's voice played from a laptop that was operated by Chez Deep's Colin Self. The woman said, "Relax, you are worthy, you have worth…," among other things. Then a busy piano began to stream from the speakers. 

Of all the shows I've been to this season, Eckhaus Latta has been the only one so far that has been confident enough to never drop the beat—literally or metaphorically. Their clothes and concepts were so strong that I feel forced to describe them with obnoxious terms like "chic," because there just isn't a better way to put it. The collection was tightly wound, ethereal, and equally reassuring to the audience. And it served as a bright spot in the middle of the CFDA minefield that has become New York Fashion Week. The brand pulled off this great feat with a large helping of quirk and humor: Chunky mouthpieces were worn by shiny, smiling farmer's-daughter types. Then they flipped that whole situation by following it with a dark-haired scowling young lady, who showcased the look in a different light. When the models made it to the end of the runway, they all struck fanciful poses. These kind of theatrics made it clear how crucial the casting of the show was. Among the show's eclectic and eccentric mix of models was a green Cole Mohr and New York luminaries like rapper Le1f, cyborg princess Juliana Huxtable, and artist Stewart Uoo. I'm not sure what's next for this RISD-trained duo, but I don't care; I want to see it anyway. 

—By Jesse Miller-Gordon

HOOD BY AIR

I spent a tremendous amount of time thinking about Hood by Air and the boundaries the brand pushes while I was working on my feature concerning black masculinity for VICE's latest fashion issue. The more I thought about the role race and gender play in the way that we dress ourselves and how we are perceived, the more questions I had. It was a tough piece to write, because there's not one way of looking at the intersection of race, gender, and fashion. But I'm proud of it because it has managed to create a dialog that is still happening via Twitter and VICE's comments section, well after the ink on the print edition dried. One thing I became certain of while writing that piece, no matter how you look at it, is that Hood by Air is forging some kind of new space in menswear that challenges gender and racial conventions to a greater extent and in a more explicit way than we've seen before. 

At this point in my career, I've seen dozens of stellar fashion shows—but I've never experienced something as jarring and staggering as what Hood by Air designer Shayne Oliver presented on Sunday at MADE Fashion Week, at Milk. The music was a blistering and pummeling mash-up of hard electronica and hip-hop beats that was reminiscent of the most abrasive moments of Kanye West's Yeezus, or of the mixes played at the famed Ghe20 Goth1k parties Shayne occasionally DJs. The strobe lighting and smoke created a euphoric effect I can only compare to the title sequence in Enter the Void. And like previous collections, but to a greater extent this time around, the looks juxtaposed strapping young men with revealing and androgynous clothing. Many of the models—both men and women—wore make up and peculiar headpieces that had long plumes of blond and umber hair. The show started to reach a climax when the music became even more intense and the loop of woman's voice saying, "10,000 screaming faggots!" repeated over and over again. Then the lights went out completely. When they came back on, there was a row of shirtless black dudes in blond wigs doing a frenetic version of voguing that looked like a scene from Paris Is Burning after someone had pressed fast-forward. The whole ordeal was disorienting, exhausting, and exhilarating. I've never seen anything with that much energy or sweeping vision at fashion week before, and I don't count on seeing it again anytime soon. 

—By Wilbert L. Cooper

N. HOOLYWOOD

When planning the perfect heist, details, no matter how menial or inconsequential, can ever be spared. Luckily, Daisuke Obana, the mastermind behind N. Hoolywood, is notoriously deliberate. So when I found myself in the frigid basement of the old J.P. Morgan bank at 8 PM, I knew he had something up his sleeve.

Like any good crook, Daisuke is also committed. Last season, the Japanese designer’s very literal Western-themed collection sent everything but the horse down the runway. Enamored with Americana once again, his latest collection draws heavy inspiration from the gangster aesthetic of the 20s and 30s.

In a figure-eight formation, average looking men donned period styles that were refined to work straight off the rack—three-piece suits were tailored with breathing room, navy leather and black wool tied together a pre-Soprano look, and monogrammed leather box duffels (ideal for those in the "cash business") exchanged hands.

When the tense jazzy instrumental let out, the jig was up. Daisuke and his cohorts had robbed fashion week blind.

—By Bobby Viteri

PUBLIC SCHOOL

My girl bought me a pair of black Public School jeans for my birthday last year, six months before Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne won the prestigious CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award. Since then, I've blown out the crotch on the jeans like three times. I hear that crotches rip more than other parts of pants because the bacteria in your nether regions eats away at the denim. I've never washed my Public School jeans, so I imagine they're infested with some of those nasty little microscopic monsters. My jeans are pretty disgusting, but I won't do anything about it, partly because I'm a dirtbag and partly because I feel like it might be bad luck for Dao-Yi and Maxwell. Because I'm crazy, I see my gross jeans the same way an old New York Giants fan sees his funky Eli Manning jersey. Washing my jeans might make bad juju for my fashion heroes, and all I want is for Public School to keep climbing to the next level. 

Their debut runway show at MADE Fashion Week definitely made it seem like they can make the jump from being a downtown New York favorite to becoming an aspirational brand for cool dudes all over the world. Even famous folks like Anna Wintour and Swizz Beatz were in attendance at the show, which featured the designers' first female garments and a lot of dope and dark-hued menswear. I loved their big-ass Amish-looking hats. They styled their top hats with scarves, which came off like a classy, new take on the do-rag/fitted-hat combo hip-hop kids wore in the late 2000s. The patterns were bold, and the materials, such as tweed and leather, looked tough and luxurious. Seeing this collection makes me excited for what the brand will come up with in another six months—I just have to make sure not to jinx them by washing my nasty-ass jeans. 

—By Wilbert L. Cooper

ALEXANDRE HERCHCOVITCH

I don't want to harp on music, but the tracks playing at Alexandre Herchovitch's show at MADE Fashion Week gave me a whirlwind of emotion. String arrangements kicked off the show, sounding like a soundtrack for a weepy movie about Ireland. But the pace quickened over the course of the show, until I felt like I was at a hoedown. In terms of the clothes, Alexandre presented doily-oriented prostitute attire for the first section, followed by sturdy-looking hot-pink flannel dresses (which were good), before looping back around to charcoal flannel pieces that were adorned with prints and reused the fringe from the doily wear (these were terrible). The models sported a glossy sheen that made them look like RealDolls, and I feel terrible about myself because I actually liked it. The hair was aces; every model had a great frizzy, post-farmhouse-sex look. But don't mistake this for a positive review: The sleeves and buttons on the charcoal coats look stupid, to put it bluntly. There were also bell sleeves, which have never been cool. Some of the layering from the old-timey Lolita section was reaching for something, but it never really took hold. Overall, the shit looked goofy. 

—By Jesse Miller-Gordon

TESS GIBERSON

Sometimes you can like a designer but hate the crowd he or she attracts to the shows. That was the case with Tess Giberson's latest. Everyone seemed to have a massive stick rammed up the ass. I came to the show in a leather jacket, T-shirt, ripped jeans, and platform boots and felt like I had walked into a room full of mothers with disapproving looks. The old ladies were staring me down like I had the black plague. I’m used to being an odd ball, so whatever, fuck them. I came for the clothes, which were pretty great. 

There were some missteps, which we should get out of the way first: The shawls and slouchy hats looked like the shit that rich, young house moms wear in TriBeCa. What I loved about the show, however, were the basics and layering pieces. There was a simplicity to them that made the whole collection for me. I really liked the way she paired long sheer over leather pants and a beautiful black-and-white knit top. It makes total sense why her knitwear was on point and looked super luxurious, considering Tess was the design director at TSE for three years, between closing and relaunching her eponymous brand. Overall, another season well done—minus those corny-ass shawls.Tess, burn those things in the fiery pits of fashion hell. 

—By Miyako Bellizzi

NATIVEDANGER

NativeDanger might have been this fashion week’s best-kept secret. Designer Skyler Javier didn’t have a traditional presentation for his latest collection. Instead he did something more unconventional and low key: He opened the doors to the video shoot for his fall/winter 2014 lookbook and invited a small cadre of dope menswear bloggers and artists, including the likes of Jian DeLeon of GQ. The scene was very trippy—dry ice oozed fog into the air, florescent lights were used like lightsabers, and Purity Ring's Corin Roddick was the main model and muse for the collection. Each of Skyler's garments were carefully constructed, incorporating an innovative take on men’s clothing. The jacket worn by Corin (on the far right) had a compartment in the chest for colored reusable warming packs. Another model wore a baseball hat with a detachable neoprene facemask that was very Sub-Zero-esque: He looked like he could shoot me with a blob of ice at any moment. I really have no idea how Skyler comes up with this stuff, but I can’t wait to see what he does next.

—By Erica Euse

ROBERT GELLER

The influences behind Robert Geller's collections are always super fascinating. The press releases for his shows are like rabbit holes that have you crawling through obscure Wikipedia pages and loading up your Amazon shopping cart with very rare goodies. This time around, however, the genesis for Robert's fall 2014 looks lie with a rock star we're all pretty familiar with: David Bowie. It's not super surprising that Robert would find a muse in the Thin White Duke. David has long been a bastion of style (just check out the feature we did this month on Kansai Yamamoto, the designer behind many of David's iconic looks). Not to mention, David's a master at walking the thin line between being tough and elegant, just like Robert's eponymous brand. Surprisingly, Robert opted to mine one of David's lesser-known personae. Instead of aping low-hanging fruit like Ziggy Stardust, Robert looked to the big and boxy suits David wore in The Man Who Fell to Earth as a springboard for his collection. Robert's models took to the runway in everything from neoprene overcoats and tall military caps to Chelsea boots and elongated tops. In the context of his previous work, it wasn't revelatory. Everything from the warm hues of purple to the layered silhouettes was well within his wheelhouse and felt very familiar to me. Even so, it was refined to the point that his looks are becoming so pure and distinctive they're bordering on the iconic. 

—By Wilbert L. Cooper

MARA HOFFMAN

The jungle-drum music and the "exotic" prints on the clothes made it apparent that Mara Hoffman was channeling the Dark Continent with her latest collection, which is weird because she's never even been there before. Though I'm usually very suspicious of cultural reappropriation by old white people, I was at least pleased to see that Mara had the Rainbow Coalition do her casting. Models of all different races and complexions were clad in flowy dresses that were decorated in vibrantly colored sequins and patterns. There were definitely some great looks, and the styling of dark-skinned models in white was especially striking. But at the end of the day, this stuff is what a WASP-y mom would wear to an Invisible Children fundraising event. 

—By Wilbert L. Cooper

OSTWALD HELGASON

The kind of audience a brand attracts is a perfect indicator of what its show will be like. Because Ostwald Helgason's show ran a solid half hour late, I was able to take my time and really reflect on the dweebs who were attending the London-based brand's show. One Soho goober in particular stood out to me. He was 30-going-on-40, wearing dress shoes and a Thrasher snapback hooked around his belt loop. Not to mention, he had a worn-out skateboard in his hands. It was clear that in honor of fashion week, he opted to sport his "skater look." 

Ostwald Helgason's designs this season had the same laborious poser vibe as that guy, but instead of overpriced skating gear, it was high(er)-end concert attire. These clothes were meant to be worn on dinner dates by tepid, boring women. Halfway through the show, they changed the music from quirky and coy to the glitchy stuff that frat dudes OD to at EDM festivals. All of a sudden, even the models looked lost, wearing failed outfits varying from cherry-blossom polo dresses to peel-away banana graphic creations. It was an incongruent collection that felt aggressively mediocre. Middle-of-the-road designs like this don't warrant a runway show.

—By Jesse Miller-Gordon

CALLA

Placed alongside three other presentations at MADE Fashion Week, Calla brought a fun, casual energy. While some other rooms had sweaty, uncomfortable models, Calla's girls were situated in a PE roll-call formation with college-coffee-shop favorites like Dolly Parton and Blood Orange playing in the background. The looks were playful, ranging from a comfy sweat suit worn with a furry coat that boasted the plaid of a Chinatown tote bag to an embroidered she-suit the color of a 50s champagne Cadillac. Elsewhere, there were the kinds of bold patterns and pleated skirts that make me fall in love with girls and expect unreasonable things. No new ground was broken, but that wasn't really the point, was it? 

—By Jesse Miller-Gordon

DEGEN

It should be a rule next fashion week that all designers be prohibited from boring the hell out of us with their awkward early-morning presentations—unless that designer is Lindsay Degen. Lindsay has held a special place in our hearts ever since she knit a pair of boobs on a sweater and some pubic hair on a pair of underwear in one of her previous collections. She’s a genuine weirdo who thinks outside the box and could care less about what everyone else thinks is cool, because whatever she thinks is cool is COOL and everyone else can go die.

She even has a sneaky way of making you like things you thought were the worst. Take Crocs, for example: There aren’t enough explicitly horrible words to describe how they make me feel. The mere glimpse of a nasty foot in Crocs causes my eyeballs to vibrate inside their sockets, and I suddenly get the urge to projectile-vomit onto every surface around me. Nevertheless, when I saw the stomach-churning footwear as rainbow-colored LED platform shoes in her new collection, I had to take a step back and close my eyes. I stood in the middle of the room like a freak for a good minute, clenching my fists in my pocket until the feeling finally passed. The neon lights, the cropped sweaters, the colorful shorts and hoodies, and the strange tribal drumming in the room resonated inside my chest. I stood there not sure if I was about to have a panic attack. I'd never been at a rave that early in the morning, but I think I could get used to it. MATCH POINT: DEGEN!

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos 

PETER SOM

If you’re the type of fashionable "it" girl who buys 60s French-pop vinyl (à la France Gall) or you have some unhealthy obsession with Edie Sedgwick (i.e., you have unresolved daddy issues), then Peter Som is for you. This season, Peter did what a lot of designers do at some point in their careers, which is rip off styles from the 60s and 70s and try to sell them to a new audience. I consider this to be a total cop-out because, most of the time, they're basically carbon copies of $5 bin finds that I can score secondhand (and that's mainly because the idiots who price them think Paco Rabanne is a Latino celebrity who designed a collection sold at Kmart). There isn’t anything too exciting or new about Peter’s autumn line, which consists of A-line skirts, leopard-print jackets, and dresses in various bright warm tones. But if you buy any of these pieces, at least you wont have to worry about contracting some fucked-up, skin-eating thrift-store disease. That's something, right?

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos 

DION LEE

When I was a little preteen, one of life's rarefied moments was getting inside of a girl's bedroom—not to do anything physical in particular; just making it out of the family room and up the damn stairs was prize enough. This kind of thing only happened during a secret rendezvous under the cover of night or when a girl's parents were out of town and she had caught a wild streak. Because getting into a girl's bedroom was such a rare occurrence, the bedroom of a woman took on a kind of mythical quality in my mind. When I was crushing on a girl, I'd daydream endlessly about what her room would look like. There is still something awe-inspiring to me about femininity expressed in such a personal space, where everything is super-ornate and vibrantly colored and all the little pieces have their own place. Dion Lee's latest collection looked like something straight out of the walk-in closet in one of the imagined bedrooms of a long-lost boyhood crush of mine. There were soft pinks and creams and bold blues. Everything felt effortlessly flowy and sexy in a reserved sort of way. Sure, I caught a few glimpses of some nice model nips and butt cracks, but it wasn't a smack-you-in-the-face-withsex kind of affair. Instead, it felt elegant and got my imagination running away again, high off the power and mystery of beautiful women and their fancy things.

—By Wilbert L. Cooper

ØDD

ØDD was the first show I attended at NYFW, so I was hoping for some freaky shit to pop off to get my fashion week started on the right foot. The invitation talked a lot about juxtapositions and sound technology, so I was ready to have my mind blown. After entering the room and being bummed out that it was just another catwalk and not some trippy experiential environment, I noticed a man shadily standing in the corner of the room. Or was he a lady? When he took a seat in front of me, I realized it was Elliott Sailors, the woman who now models as a man. I saw that her right hand was glowing blue thanks to a large ring she was wearing. When she stood up and marched down the runway, she moved her hand in front of her body like a sorcerer, which I guess was controlling the music and the projections and maybe my mind. I was entranced. But not every model was lucky enough to have a piece of mind-melting jewelry, so I was able to leave my trance long enough to see the actual clothing of the collection, which was very dark and futuristic and awesome. 

—By Erica Euse

GENERAL IDEA

Being John Malkovich is an old Spike Jonze movie in which John Cusack has the power to enter actor John Malkovich's mind for 15 minutes at a time. Whenever I see a collection by designer Bumsuk Choi, I wonder whether he's doing that to me—entering my brain through a portal on the seventh-and-a-half floor of a Korean office building and taking all the fashion shit that I like and desperately want and incorporating it into his awesome line. I could be totally content wearing only General Idea's latest collection for the rest of 2014, with its black-heavy color scheme, tight tough-guy leather pants, tops with zippers in lots of strange places, and man skirts. Bumsuk, if you are inside my head right now, hook a brother up with some runway samples for free-.99, my guy.

—By Wilbert L. Cooper

TIMO WEILAND

Timo Weiland is one of the few young designers who can successfully create a full and solid assortment of looks for both men and women. Instead of referencing past decades for his menswear line, this season he decided to create a collection inspired by the now—the outfits he sees on the streets of New York every single day. So for fall, he basically re-created all the classic staples you have in your closet but made every piece a million times better, to the point that you now hate everything you own. In fact, you're so annoyed that haphazardly tossing a still-lit cigarette butt into a trash bin that "accidentally" starts a fire and destroys all of your shitty, outdated wardrobe—so you have to go out and buy all of Timo's new gear with the insurance check—doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world.

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos

CHROMAT

I praise individualism, and this show was jam-packed with eclectic weirdos. (My favorite was the guy sitting across from me in an all-gold, metallic striped suit with rainbow-colored balls glued to his hat.) Once the typical electronic tunes started echoing in the Standard's presentation hall, the first few girls stepped out wearing the usual Chromat looks—cutout dresses, lingerie, and pentagram designs—which is always appealing. But it wasn't until a model sporting a full-metal bustier walked out that I knew this collection was different. I even found myself drooling over the shiny metal baby-doll dress that came after (even though it probably weighed more than the girl who was wearing it). And when the lights dimmed to reveal an ethereal leather mask and harness complete with blue LEDs, I knew I was in heaven.

—By Miyako Bellizzi

KATIE GALLAGHER

Katie Gallagher is my kind of gal. Season after season, her dark, edgy designs never fail to get my adrenaline pumping. I don't know her personally. But I'd like to think she's the sort of girl I held séances with when I went through my shitty rebellious "I hate everything!" phase. You know, the teenage years when you only wore black, watched The Craft once a week, bought dog collars from Hot Topic, and found your parents leaving "How to Talk to Your Teen" pamphlets throughout the house because they didn't know how to deal with your crazy-ass mood swings. While it would be unfair to simply label Katie's newest collection as an homage to some 90s cult chick flick, we have to say that if this was the inspiration behind her latest designs, she did a really good job at breathing new life into a concept that several designers have failed to capture.

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos

VFILES

ASSK (far left)

After teetering on the edge of obscurity with last season’s clumsy showcase, VFiles was in a tough spot—how do you appeal to blasé internet kids without ostracizing the people who take fashion kind of seriously? And vice versa? It’s the burning question, and after a 45-minute delay, things weren’t looking good. Luckily, the two Aussie expats behind Paris-based ASSK quelled the non-believers. The looks—urban knitwear, quilted bombers, lush coats that doubled up as sleeping bags, Realtree print garments sprinkled with SIM cards and Rx bottles—were so on point that they’d be filed right in the G-spot of a form-meets-function Venn diagram.

—By Bobby Viteri

MELITTA BAUMEISTER (middle)

The minute Melitta Baumeister’s first look strolled down the runway, I immediately knew she was German. No other country's inhabitants can ever cut the hell out of a sweater and send it frayed down a runway quite like the Germans can. The Parson's graduate showcased a series of designs inspired by our cultural obsession with digital technology. It was a clean collection, minus all the pieces that were purposely made to look unfinished. In many ways it was reminiscent of old Martin Margiela and Raf Simons designs, with weird bananas attached to some of the model's chests. I'm not sure how those pieces really supported her whole "digital" concept, because all they did was make me think of Donkey Kong—if he were forced to live on an interstellar space station inhabited by some jacked up dystopian society. Scratch that. Living out the rest of my days in eternal sadness while wearing whatever this "stuff" is supposed to be seems pretty cool to me right now.

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos

HYEIN SEO (far right)

One of the biggest pet peeves is the use of typeface on clothing. Any word that's supposed to evoke some sort of emotion from you—especially the word fear—is just stupid. So Hyein Seo's decision to display it prominently on every garment just annoyed me. Don’t get me wrong: I love a good punk look when it's executed properly, but this was a far cry from punk. It was as far from punk as punk could be. You might as well have used the word "punk" instead. It's really sad because the structural design of each individual piece was great. Had she just second-guessed the deal-breaker, the collection would have been a hit. Sorry, Hyein; tripping at the finish line is the worst look of all.

—By Miyako Bellizzi

WILDFOX

At the risk of sounding like a total asshole, I've got to say that the Wildfox show was very "LA." We like Wildfox and Kimberley Gordon's girly designs, but there was something about the show that we couldn't shake. The scent of self-tanner and Clinique Happy clung to the air in such a way that I couldn't help having acid flashbacks to my awkward days in high school. I was reminded of the way the school common room smelled when the popular crew rolled through the hallways post–Central Park smoke break. As the models began strolling down the runway in a collection that was inspired by Pride and Prejudice, I began to feel nostalgic. The rosy-cheeked, beanie-wearing, slouchy boho-chic models reminded me of the kind of young girl I secretly admired, even though she tortured the hell out of me—the carefree, "I woke up like this" perfect 10 who had a cool boyfriend, could wear all of his clothing, not brush her hair, and still warrant boners from all of the guys after PE. A warmth came over me, one I'd never experienced before; it was if I had finally gotten some kind of closure I'd always needed. 

But in an instant my newfound inner peace was shattered into a million pieces as the soft baby-like words I frequently hear in my nightmares began to play: "My heart will never feel / Will never see / Will never know...." It was Grimes, the same annoying track that has been plaguing fashion weeks all around the world for the last two years. Ugh. Coincidentally, a sweatshirt displaying the phrase "I Need a Drink" came down the catwalk as the haunting song faded into obscurity. At least at that very moment I could finally relate to my surroundings, and I was no longer afraid.

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos

ORLEY

Orley's fall/winter 2014 collection is basically what I imagine Holden Caulfield's boarding-school cohorts would have worn in The Catcher in the Rye on their weekends at home in New York City. It's the perfect collection for any Godard-obsessed intro-to-film twit—you know, the same guy who subscribes to the Paris Review and walks around carrying a pretentious book under his arm, along with a rolled-up newspaper with the New York Times label facing out so everyone can see just how well-read he is. This guy also doesn't own a single pair of white socks, still wears Dior's Eau Sauvage, and carries a monogrammed cigarette case full of pencil-thin perfectly hand-rolled cigs in his shirt breast pocket. This guy is the absolute worst. And not because of his deep connection to a period in time 20 years prior to his birth, but because of his unfailing commitment. Also, your girlfriend is probably going to leave you for him, and for very good reason.

—By Annette Lamothe-Ramos

KYE

After feeling pretty terrible all day, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in a sweltering room with DJs blasting Outkast remixes for 30 minutes, while jerks obnoxiously snapped runway photos with their massive iPads. But once the models came out wearing a face full of baby oil, I felt a lot better, because at least there were others who knew how I felt—sweaty and ready to die.

Like most shows this season, androgynous looks were a central theme. KYE has a unique ability to create versatile pieces that both sexes can wear. By using expensive leathers, mesh, and this weird Astro-fur material, they really upped the loungewear game. All the looks seemed like they came straight out of a 90s Missy Elliot music video. I was especially feeling the XL chain-cable motif that was embroidered on most of the garments. It's like KYE designed my ideal collection: comfy, non-descript fits that come in black, white, and red. Ideal for eating, sleeping, sweating, fucking, and dying.

—By Miyako Bellizzi

Photo courtesy of Australian Indigenous Fashion Week

The Australian bush is vast, desolate, and pretty much entirely disconnected from the world of high fashion. But there are traditions of handcrafts and art amid all that emptiness, and where there’s art, there’s the possibility of turning that art into monetizable nuggets of fashion.

In April, the first-ever Australian Indigenous Fashion Week will be held in Sydney. It’s the brainchild of Krystal Perkins, a marketing executive who helped launch the country’s National Indigenous Television network. (She also happens to be the granddaughter of Charles Perkins, Australia's first indigenous university graduate and a prominent activist.)

The idea is to bring Aboriginal art to a wider audience and help young women who are tall and skinny and model-pretty but may live 20 hours from the nearest agency find work in the fashion industry and survive.

Krystal’s end goal is to get some Aboriginal faces into the lily-white world of high fashion. Other than Samantha Harris, a light-skinned Aboriginal model, there are basically no indigenous Australian beauty symbols. Of the 1,100 models signed to the country’s major agencies, only seven are Aboriginal, according to an article in CLEO, an Australian women’s magazine.

“I was struck by the lack of black faces in fashion, and wanted to try and balance things out a bit,” Krystal told me. She believes that by introducing greater diversity into the fashion world, indigenous girls and young women might be better able to see themselves as beautiful.

In advance of Indigenous Fashion Week, there will be a modeling competition for indigenous people of both sexes between 16 and 27. Of the hundred-plus entrants, 16 will be chosen to come to Sydney for training in business, deportment, and how to walk a catwalk.

Of course, modeling isn't a traditional pursuit for indigenous young people, and in many of the more conservative bush communities it's unheard of. Krystal told me that she wanted to be respectful of those attitudes.

“This has to be a decision for the entire community,” she said. “If a young girl wants to get into modeling, it's got to be OK with not just her parents, but the rest of her aunties and uncles in the community. You've got to be respectful.”

The fashion week will also include a design workshop for 16 indigenous female designers from across the country who will learn how to develop and commercialize their wares and have the opportunity to sell designs to labels. Krystal hopes some will follow in the footsteps of Jimmy Pike, an indigenous artist who started painting in prison and has gone on to create one-off pieces for Desert Designs and textiles licensed to Oroton and Sheridan. Both Zegna and Hermes have licensed designs by indigenous artists.

None of this is about helping indigenous people learn how to make art—they already know how to do that. It’s about helping them find a commercial audience for their work. While much of the focus of Aboriginal fine art is design and painting, there are other indigenous techniques that could easily find a home in the fashion industry. Artists from the Tiwi Islands in the Torres Strait have started incorporating the region’s weaving traditions into making bags and accessories; in southern Australia, the tradition of drying out the skins of kangaroos and possums to wear as coats, according to Krystal, could lead to a new fashion trend: There's already interest in possum fur coats in Europe and Asia. 

“The design initiative is about educating the industry on what's available, encouraging greater diversity, and setting up a better system of regulation to make sure designers get paid for their workm” Krystal said. “But mostly, it's about finding ways to translate art into fashion.”