FW16 MASTODON MEN’S
LAST SUMMER, MY BETTER HALF, HUN, INSTALLED BEEHIVES ON THE ROOF OF OUR HOUSE. IT’S NOT SOMETHING WE TALKED ABOUT BUT I COULD SEE SHE WAS INSTINCTIVELY RESPONDING TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES WE ALL FEEL. CHANGE CAN BE OMINOUS BUT ISN’T EVOLUTION INEVITABLE? DO WE REALLY EXPECT TO LIVE FOREVER? OR MIGHT WE GRACEFULLY GO THE WAY OF THE DINOSAUR…
OPENING A NEW STORE ON LA BREA AVE IN L.A. MADE ME REMEMBER THE LA BREA TAR PITS, PUTTING ME ON THIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT…
(THE LA BREA TAR PITS ARE A U.S. LANDMARK THAT HAVE PRESERVED THE BONES OF PREHISTORIC ANIMALS THAT WERE TRAPPED THERE THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.)
BALANCING CONTROL AND COLLAPSE IS WHAT I’VE BUILT MY AESTHETIC ON— DISCIPLINE VS INDULGENCE, IMMORTALITY VS ITS DEFEAT, ARCHITECTURE VS WILDERNESS… I’VE BEEN ROMANTICIZING STRAIGHT LINES FOR A WHILE BUT HERE THEY’RE FRACTURED AND INCOMPLETE, LETTING AN ORGANIC ENERGY SEEP THROUGH, MOST OBVIOUSLY IN LUGUBRIOUSLY DRIPPING SPLASHES— MY VERSION OF PRIMORDIAL OOZE.
FASHION’S EVOLUTION HAS EXPRESSED IDEALS OF BEAUTY THROUGH EXAGGERATION LIKE STRETCH JEANS, STILETTOS, BUSTLES AND PANNIERS… I’VE USED VOLUME AT THE PELVIS TO CONSTRUCT THE EFFECT I THINK PANNIERS WERE INTENDED FOR— TO CREATE AN IMPOSING DISPLAY FOR THE LOWER HALF OF THE BODY; A FRAME SUSPENSEFULLY COVERED WITH A CURTAIN.
SHAPES IN THICK COTTON MOLESKINS AND WOOL SUITING ARE TIGHT AND CONTROLLED AT THE TOP, GRADUALLY EXPANDING AT THE HIPS TO DRAG AND MELT TREE TRUNK-LIKE INTO THE GROUND. SHEARLINGS ARE THE SIMPLEST OF SHAPES, OR TWISTED AND DRAPED INTO CASCADING BLOBS. BOMBERS ARE IN PIRARUCU— A BRAZILIAN ECO-FRIENDLY FISH HIDE WITH PREHISTORIC-LOOKING SCALES— AND PARKAS ARE CUT IN FALLING APART MOHAIR, OR BLACK SUBURBAN NYLON, TWISTED AND STRETCHED TO THE FLOOR. LOOKS ARE ANCHORED BY ADIDAS PRO MODEL SHELLTOES THAT HAVE BEEN PUMPED UP TO MASTODON LEVEL.
THE DINOSAURS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LA BREA TAR PITS ARE ECHOED IN THE SOUNDTRACK’S REFRAIN ‘I JUST THOUGHT I’D CALL BEFORE I THROW MYSELF INTO THE ICY LAKE’ (FROM ICY LAKE, A MID-NINETIES VOGUING MASTERPIECE BY DAT OVEN).
THIS COLLECTION IS LABELED WITH A ONE-TIME-ONLY OWENSCORP LABEL THAT HAS BEEN DIPPED IN THE HONEY PRODUCED BY OUR BEES.
COME ON BABY, DON’T FEAR THE REAPER.