By: Alexia Hill
Courtesy: Yano
On Saturday, March 2, six local designers came together to showcase their collections, opening up for Alexandre Orr’s latest work, “Chasing After the Wind.” Located at Culdesac in Tempe, “Chasing After The Wind” is Orr’s first production that he’s simultaneously organized and designed for. However the brand, By Alexandre, has been a part of six different runway shows, and Orr has been designing under his eponymous label for nearly three years in the valley.
Orr described that over the past year, the brand has graciously been a part of many different projects, but that it left him feeling lost and confused about the state of the brand, and whether or not these projects were fulfilling to him. With that feeling in mind, Orr turned to his faith to work through what would come next for his work.
“One day I Googled, ‘Bible verses about the meaning of life’ and what came up was the book of Ecclesiastes where a character has accomplished everything and anything under the sun but still feels like he's chasing after something that can't be caught — the wind,” Orr said. “So this collection is about honesty from our brand as a whole, and me as a designer. We're trying to find true meaning in the clothing we create and answering the question, ‘What wind are we chasing?’
The walkable outdoor plaza hosted seven vendors ranging from custom rugs, vintage clothing and local designer brands. There was even an information table for the show’s nonprofit partner, Lorie’s Calling, which is dedicated to early intervention and preventative initiatives in mental health.
As everyone found their seats along the oval-shaped runway, Tyson Alonzo, local photographer turned designer, premiered his new brand, “Transcend Apparel.” To the instrumental beat of a Westside Gunn song, Alonzo opened the show and set the tone.
“The collection is called ‘A Sign Of The Times’ so the inspiration is all about war and the idea of warfare. I wanted to represent that in all of these pieces so everything is tactical or looks like it's been through the shredder,” Alonzo said. “I wanted it to look militant, like this is the stuff you would wear if you were ready to go to war.”
Alonzo’s debut collection included motifs of blood-red accents, burnt ties, manufactured bullet holes, and experimental sewing techniques and textures. These apocalyptic pieces were Alonzo’s first time ever designing, learning to sew and design the entire collection in just two months.
Crystin Villa, a senior at ASU studying marketing and minoring in fashion also displayed her first collection. Villa describes her inspiration coming largely from her emotional ties to her hometown of El Paso, Texas.Visually, her hand-painted custom pieces are largely influenced by religious symbols, ’90s Chicano culture and symbolism such as the Payasa and dual clown faces. Pops of red are included throughout, including a red, “I love you forever” type on one of the button-ups, red ribbons braided into the model’s hair, and even one model styled with a red lace veil.
Expired Citizens by ELAD, a pseudonym for Dale Horton, brought a unique approach to the trending patchwork and street styles being seen in fashion across the world. The alter-ego ELAD, standing for Experience Luxury and Design, plays on the fact that Horton creates both streetwear pieces and higher-end luxury pieces that meld the two. Imagine Tyler, The Creator’s sister brands, Golf Wang vs. Golf Le Fleur. “We’re all citizens and we're all going to expire soon, so just create until you expire,” Horton said
Horton’s pieces are made from second-hand sourced materials, including window curtains, and even a racer jacket made from a Fireworks booth banner. Subtle but eccentric pieces like red basketball shorts sewn on top of jeans and oversized flannel patchwork duffle bags only accentuated the slogan across the screens: “For the intricate wearers.”
Justin Zypher, of Southern Super Friends (SSF) Purple Label also worked mainly with reworking with second hand pieces. One-of-one pieces like the racer-jacket and black mesh top utilized V-cut silhouettes while others were accessorized with customized skateboard statements and five-pointed star bags.
Throne of Grace continued the theme of religious semiotics through this simple yet posh collection. Streetwear brand Throne of Grace has been a popular namesake this past season, being crowned Designer of The Year by Phoenix Fashion Week for 2023.
Designer and founder Tony James always wanted to be a designer. Throughout high school, he planned to go to school for fashion merchandising, and wanted to live the fast life that the industry is known for. Over time, James has found his faith, become a father and rather than being a designer for his own wants or needs, sees himself as a vessel to spread the message of his faith.
“I’m called to be here because we need to be in light and dark places, there's no space that’s off limits,” James said. “The name stems from the scripture Hebrew 4:16 that says you can go to God's throne and receive mercy and grace in your time of need. So it's saying we’re all failures, but we can always go to God because he's available, he’s there, he’s willing, he’s loving.”
Branded graphic T-shirts, sweatshirts and puffers were styled with bold, colorful framed glasses, pearl necklaces, collared button-ups layered underneath and scarves sprinkled throughout, either as a headpiece or as a belt accessory
Last but certainly not least, Orr’s eponymous brand, “By Alexandre” showcased its 16-look collection. With inspirations stemming from his Christian-based values and visual influences stemming from the brutalist movement of the 1940s/1950s, designs included boxy silhouettes, a grayscale color palette, and an amalgamation of street wear and business formal wear. Distressed denim pieces were paired with black business ties and embroidered words such as “Brut” into the waistline, meaning raw in French.
Throughout the runway showcase, the screens behind the models intentionally showcase messages such as Ecclesiastes 1:18, “He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow” and “Raison D’etre” meaning “reason for being” in French. Halfway through the collection, models took an interlude from walking to allow all attention to focus on the projections. On screen, model Jonathan Cuero, dressed in Alexandre business attire, is running. From all different angles and across a nondescript plaza, all energy is focused on his chase.
The final scene on screen shows Cuero standing still, then as he starts to run again, the scene comes into frame — Cuero is running in real time toward the runway. He dashes his way through the entire production, and up and down the wide middle corridor. The model jumps over a chair in the middle of the production, and eventually sits down, crossing his legs, just as the music picks up and the next model walks out.
“Every day in mourning what is lost, you lose what can be gained” and, “Let the dead bury the dead” appear on the screens as the second half of the collection continues.
Words like, “One day, maybe” are embroidered into the textile. One look includes Polaroid pictures actually sewn into the light purple, hand-dyed garment. The blend of the elevated workwear aesthetic and philosophical ideas on value and meaning creates an incredibly vulnerable yet professional runway. Orr’s presentation was more than a runway, it was a complete display of who he is as a person, and what he envisions “By Alexandre” being in this oversaturated world of fashion.
Their clothing is built to be comfortable and stylish, subtle yet striking for men or women consumers. Hosting a primarily menswear show with five of the six designers being men brings to light a demographic that gets lost or unheard of in the industry, as 82.7% of all fashion designers in the United States are women, according to Zippia.
“This collection is all about being exposed and vulnerable with yourself, I feel like a lot of people don't do that. I didn't do that. I wasn't vulnerable with myself and allowing myself to be wrong, to make mistakes,” Orr said. “It was a journey, I feel like I had lost my way not only with Christianity but how I wanted to portray myself, and how I want people to know me. This was kind of my journey back like ‘This is who I am.’”
The five opening designers all know Orr from different events, projects or mutual connections, but the sentiment of caring for their local fashion community rings strong and true throughout all of them.
“I believe in what he [Alexandre] is doing, I believe in his heart, I love what he stands for. If we're going to grow not only as individuals but as a community within Arizona, we have to support each other and that’s just coming through with humility,” James said.
Σχόλια