[REVIEW] Dover Street Market's Open House During Fashion Week

There always seems to be two distinct groups of so-called “fashion people.” One set of people is attracted to the glitz and the glamour of it all, they can be found throughout fashion week at galas and luxury boutiques. The other set is attracted to fashion through the creativity and possibly the weirdness of it all, and can be found throughout Fashion Week at exclusive downtown parties, shops carrying Hood By Air, and very often, New York’s Dover Street Market. Dover Street Market not only carries the best high fashion that the industry has to offer, it also has become something of a Ground Zero for our city’s creative types. Much of this has to do with the shop’s ability to display fashion in myriad creative ways through the use of concept installations.

At DSMNY’s Fashion Week Open House on Thursday, the store introduced some amazing installations. A ground floor installation designed by exciting new Gucci creative director, Alessandro Michele introduces Gucci’s Cruise 2016 collection, while longtime Raf Simons collaborator and photographer Willy Vanderperre was hanging out signing copies of his new IDEA book ‘636.’ London heritage label Labour and Wait launched its first US shop within the walls of DSMNY, designer Jeanne Signoles was in store celebrating the US launch of her luxe-meets-function bag brand L/Uniform, and John Galliano’s first collection for Maison Margiela was commemorated with a visual installation calling back to Martin Margiela’s famous experiments with paint. All of these installations and appearances were fantastic; Rei Kawakubo accepts no less. But it was particularly heart-warming to see one of my favorite artists (and full disclosure, good friend) JK5, aka Joseph Ari Aloi, giving birth to his installation on DSMNY’s 5th floor.

JK5, who found footing as a tattoo artist and has branched out into a more multi-disciplinary approach, found himself with a monumental opportunity when he found out that Rei Kawakubo was interested in using his work in some capacity in the FW 2015 Comme des Garcons Homme Plus collection. To his astonishment, that capacity was some of his extremely distinct letter forms being featured ALL OVER that collection in mega skinny suits, tights, and leathers.

Aloi has a keen ability to recognize opportunity when he sees it. He is also an avid fashion lover, and particularly enthralled with the world of CDG. He sought to nurture the new creative and business relationship. The lines of dialog stayed open, eventually leading up to this installation.

An open galactic space serves as the backdrop of the installation, true to Aloi’s themes. He is interested in the Force and in the interconnectivity of the universe. When he speaks, he is always looking to connect the dots between events in his life and around him. For him, everything that has happened in his existence has led up to this moment, “It’s all coming around full-circle in exciting ways,” says Aloi. 

For the installation, JK5 lent his creative language to an arsenal of CDG wallets, perfume boxes, and DSM Converse sneakers. Also included were his Rizzoli book, art works, and his new jewelry collection made in conjunction with jewelry designer, Asher Hoffman. The rings and jewels interpret the galactic visual style of JK5 extremely well, and they are really heavy and well-made; they’ll look stylish on your fingers and would also have the (probably) unintentional benefit of being really useful in a bar fight.

Aloi is interested in business and the idea of branding, and it stands to evidence that his visual language translates as well to a variety of products as it does standalone art works. Where he will go from here is wherever his destiny dictates he will go. “The world’s getting the story, and it’s a good one,” says Aloi over text. “Truly lucrative new opportunities. I want to art direct my own brand, that’s the goal.”

Adam Lehrer is a writer, journalist, and art and fashion critic based in New York City. On top of being Autre’s fashion and art correspondent, he is also a regular contributor to Forbes Magazine. His unique interests in punk, hip hop, skateboarding and subculture have given him a distinctive, discerning eye and voice in the world of culture, et al. Oh, and he also loves The Sopranos. Follow him on Instagram: @adam102287

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[FASHION REVIEW] New York Fashion Week Round Up Part One: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

photograph by Kevin Tachman

Here are some collections that I deem to be excellent, and a couple that I found to be quite a letdown, from the first four days of New York Fashion Week.

Wednesday, September 9

VFiles

VFiles has been influential in retailing exciting young designers. There have been numerous cases of it carrying brands that I personally would never have heard of otherwise. This year, the retailer featured five young new designers, each offering an entirely different design aesthetic: the Beijing born newly graduated Feng Chen Wang, the London-Based David Ferreira, Design duo Namilia, Japanese Central Saint Martins and Parson-educated Kozabura Akasaka, and New York-based trio Moses Gauntlett Cheng.

Wang’s collection was birthed from her experience learning of her father’s cancer diagnosis. She sought to find the beauty in the ugliness of the deterioration of the human being, and the designs in her section of show recall the strength found within human organs.

Of the five designers, it feels as if Akasaka might be the big seller out of all of them. He has a knack for menswear and womenswear, and though his silhouettes are avant-garde, they also have a real slickness to them. His Japanese heritage is a huge part of the collection, as if filtering his Yohji influences into his country’s obsession with high quality denim.

Moses Gauntlett Cheng is the hometown favorites. I actually met 1/3 of the trio at that Alexandra Marzella performance that I wrote about here, but had no idea that I was speaking to a talented new fashion designer. In any case, the trio fearlessly plays with gender in a manner that is not played out, and is neither masculine nor feminine.

September 10

Creatures of the Wind

The idea that the most stylish ladies out there wear a little bit of everything to accentuate their own uniqueness is firmly implanted in the design aesthetic of Creatures of the Wind’s design duo Christopher Peters and Shane Gabier. The brand’s SS 2016 collection felt like a lineup of different cool girls throwing together various COTW pieces to meet their respective moods. There were a few motifs that showed up throughout the collection in a variety of different styles; blue floral prints, studded black satin, army jackets, and more. Gabier and Peters don’t seem interested in creating a tribe, instead they offer beautifully made garments that any fashion conscious girl could make work for her. The brand’s identity feels inclusive and refreshing.


Adam Selman

Adam Selman’s approach to high fashion feels simultaneously kitschy AND subversive, a description that may have been bestowed upon a young Jeremy Scott all those seasons ago. I don’t mean to compare the two designers, as it would be unfair to label Selman anything akin to derivative. He’s a monumental talent, and his work is everything that is great about a New York designer: unstuffy, loosely conceptual, and wearable.

His inspiration for this SS ‘16 collection was Taylor Camp, a ‘60s and ‘70s nudist colony established outside the beachfront property of Howard Taylor (brother of Elizabeth). In that, the clothes read like the garments that a nudist lady might wear in the situations that they were forced to put clothes on. Much of the collection is all black and all white, with some of the pieces featuring some well-placed sun-soaked prints. The collection was also influenced by American designer Todd Oldham, who’s own unpretentious approach from fashion to design makes him something of a Selman spiritual forebear.

September 11

Giulieta

One of the few shows that I was allowed access to was Giulieta, which is traditionally elegant, but in a good way. Designer Sofia Sizzi used a futuristic vision of tennis as her springboard. The collection begs the question, “What will hautey rich country club gals be dressed like when we’ve colonized Mars?” A soft and cerebral beauty permeated the collection.


Givenchy

Easily the biggest show of this year’s NYFW calendar: Kanye, Kim, Julia Roberts, Debbie Harry, Liv Tyler and more all came out to see Ricardo Tisci debut a new Givenchy collection for the first time ever in New York. The whole thing did feel very much like a gift to New York, an ode to its majesty on the day commemorating its tragedy, even if it was covert marketing for the new Givenchy store. The event was held outside the pier in Tribeca and art directed by Marina Abramovic. Tisci hardly needs to add more beauty to his shows, his clothes do the trick, but Abramovic’s inclusion of women climbing ladders, Serbian folk singers, cellists, grand pianos and even fucking llamas all made for the darkly surrealist glamour that has rightfully placed Tisci as one of the world’s leading fashion designers.

Between this show, and his recent SS 2016 menswear show in Paris, it feels like Tisci might be more on top of his game than he ever has been. Women draped in black and white satin with razor sharp tailoring lent gothic class to the eerie environment. Some have issues with men’s looks in women’s shows, but with Tisci it always feels right. The men’s look complimented the women’s, and the jet black suiting made me want to grow up, start pulling in $500K a year, and alter my wardrobe to rightfully take my place amongst the illuminati.

Saturday, September 12

Baja East


Scott Studenberg and John Targon entered the “loose luxury” trade in 2012 with their brand Baja East, and their SS 2016 collection was their best to date. This show took cues from ‘90s rave, and strobe light-akin shades of red, blue, and green were featured on ultra soft tunics and dresses. Men walked in the show too, but Studenberg and Targon are aware that their business is coming from women. It’s hard to imagine most men, especially other boring straight ones, getting in to clothes like this. But it’s a nice sentiment.

Alexander Wang

While other designers might be crushed after getting shit-canned from a brand like Balenciaga, the brand Alexander Wang is so beloved amongst its tribe that it may have even helped the designer. After all, Alexander Wang has always been more a high street than a high fashion brand, with Lykke Li saying it best, “His clothes seem made for that girl that you see and can’t help but notice how cool her shoes are, or how cool her jacket is.”

Alexander Wang has always been for confident casual New York cool types. That vibe felt on-point from the first look of a tank top and wide striped trousers. Wang also applied cool details like black fringe to cool girl staples like army jackets. The men’s looks, the first ever in an Alexander Wang show, were great too, particularly a long plaid shirt jacket with neoprene front pockets. The show ended with a video collage of the many successes of Alexander these last 10 years; let’s hope for many more.

Adam Lehrer is a writer, journalist, and art and fashion critic based in New York City. On top of being Autre’s fashion and art correspondent, he is also a regular contributor to Forbes Magazine. His unique interests in punk, hip hop, skateboarding and subculture have given him a distinctive, discerning eye and voice in the world of culture, et al. Oh, and he also loves The Sopranos. Follow him on Instagram: @adam102287

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[ART REVIEW] Aki Sasamoto Food Rental Performance On The High Line In New York

New York-based Japanese artist Aki Sasamoto’s work affects the viewer on many levels. Her creations, sculptures that serve utilitarian and aesthetic purposes, are superb enough to warrant museum attention by themselves. But Sasamoto’s work really is about the performance. Her singularly silly performance style is underlined by real human truths. But aside from all the wisdom and beauty that is found in Sasamoto’s work, it’s also really funny. Perhaps that is why her public performance on the New York City Highline, ‘Food Rental,’ worked so well: though a certain art-centric crowd (including NY Mag art critic Jerry Saltz) was in attendance, there was also what seemed to be a gathering crowd of passing tourists. These people were perhaps not aware that they were witnessing the newest performance by one of the most important contemporary artists in the world, but they certainly laughed a lot.

Sasamoto provides catharsis to an audience in lieu of the audience’s art-savvy. Perched atop the High Line Rail Yards, a busy and loud touristy section, sat an actual wheeled food cart built by Sasamoto. I heard a spectator complaining about how “loud a place this is for performance art,” and I wanted to tell him to shut his mouth. The loudness was the whole point. Sasamoto wanted the experience to be as close to the actual food truck experience as possibles The performance began with Sasamoto asking the audience to pick from her menu. The first item picked was something to do with diseases. Sasamoto asked the audience to think of two diseases, and said, “Two diseased we are going to look at today: Charismatic Syndrome and Strategic Syndrome.” She laid out the symptoms, causes, preventions, etc of these diseases by making gestures out of two sets of mashed potatoes. Basically, she was discussing the nature of capitalism. She used an example of Martha Stewart, clearly someone suffering from Charismatic Syndrome, “Everyone has an aunt that plants thing,” said Sasamoto. But people with strategic syndrome who are obsessed with what’s going on in the word (media, PR, hipsters, financers) build people like Martha Stewart up. It was hilarious and full of truth.

Another menu off the item criticized critics, and was discussing a purported New Yorker article that was unfair to a pickpocketer. Pickpocketers, to Sasamoto, are the highest form of art.The performance veered between philosophical truths and personal memories and traumas that resonated nonetheless. One menu item saw Sasamoto strap on a pair of sandals elevated by sharp steak knives as she stood atop her food cart’s counter and cut oranges with her sandals. She did so while relaying a memory about having her mother visit when she spent the whole visit finding reasons to not tell her mother everything she always wanted to tell her. The story ended with her in the bathroom at the airport in a stall next to a woman with diarrhea. The story was sad and beautiful, but presented in a way that will surely be unforgettable to the viewer. And maybe that’s the point.

Sasamoto’s performances are really an elaborate and beautifully conceived form of communication. She has found a way to express herself by creating these performances. The performances are so distinct that the ideas and storied conveyed by Sasamoto remain buried into the viewer’s psyche. It’s like when you hear a certain song, and it takes you back to a time in your life. It triggers a memory. Sasamoto’s performances trigger memories, but they also create new ones. Now when I see mashed potatoes, I will remember the plague of Charismatic Syndrome. That, my friends, is genius. Sasamoto is not just one of the great contemporary artists; she’s one of the great contemporary storytellers.

Adam Lehrer is a writer, journalist, and art and fashion critic based in New York City. On top of being Autre’s fashion and art correspondent, he is also a regular contributor to Forbes Magazine. His unique interests in punk, hip hop, skateboarding and subculture have given him a distinctive, discerning eye and voice in the world of culture, et al. Oh, and he also loves The Sopranos. Follow him on Instagram: @adam102287

FOLLOW AUTRE ON INSTAGRAM TO STAY  IN TOUCH: @AUTREMAGAZINE