#NYFWM: Steven Aoki Dim Mak Collection Fall 2017

It seems stiff when streetwear and activewear brands send models down a sombre runway. Music industry superstar Steve Aoki's fashion brand Dim Mak destroyed that convention by replacing the catwalk with a skate park.

Dim Mak is a luxury streetwear brand celebrating skater culture, rebels and street art. This season, the graphics were a collaboration with artist David Choe. The collection is made and designed in Japan. It has the indie creative's soul at heart with a tagline "by any means necessary".

The clothes were shown on true skaters instead of traditional models who burst out on a half pipe to the searing performances of the band Mangchi. It was great to see the clothing in motion. The art, whether it was printed on the back of a trenchcoat, screened on t-shirts, printed on pants looked great in the air. Instead of the baggy classic fit of skaters, the Dim Mak collection played with the silhouette a bit, making pants more tapered in the leg, looser towards the hips, jackets slim in the shoulders but full towards the hem so it had the effect of a superhero's cape in flight.

I loved the diverse casting of the show, which had skaters from different ethnicities, both male and one female. In general, I find that NYFWM has more diverse ethnicities in its models than the women's shows, which is a shame on women's designers. Menswear seems to take more risks in their presentations based on the first three shows I have shot. NYFW needs to step it up.

Steve Aoki's Dim Mak Fall 2017 fashion show got my heartrate up and I loved it! Thank you for getting the walls of NYFWM shaking at Skylight Clarkson North and giving it some much needed heat. This label is going to ride all over this side of the ocean.

photos by Mariana Leung

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Futura x G-Shock - Street Art Legend Meets Time

Street artists and fashion designers collaborating on a capsule collection are the vogue trend right now. Usually, it is an up-and-coming artist or an icon of the past licensed out to a brand.

Futura (2000) is one of the few living legends who is a contemporary of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Fab-5 Freddy. He hit the East Village gallery scene hard in the 1970s and rose to fame. In the present decade, he dropped the "2000" from his name and is collaborating with brands like Levi's, Vans and Agnes B. to bring some old-school NYC culture to commercialism. His latest project is a small collection of watches with G-Shock. The band and collectible tin feature his signature orbs.

He is well-known for many of his music collaboration that includes a special Beats by Dre headphones design and work with The Clash. He even works with sports figures like LeBron James and a project designing graphics for Lance Armstrong's bicycle for the Tour de France (Futura was an ex-bike messenger and loves France).

When I was in design school, the fine artists and the fashion design students were worlds apart. Now, the two disciplines have a co-dependent relationship to give each other credibility. Marc Jacobs constantly works with edgy artists, even heritage brands like Louis Vuitton consistently seek out the most innovative artists to re-interpret their label.

I like that Futura is a home-grown, New York City artist still working downtown (the Q&A session above was right around some of his original galleries). He talked about his work, how it evolved and how "graffiti" now seemed to describe young artists and "street art" was attributed to established artists when it was really the same. He hinted at his next collaboration with a Canadian musical artist. His chill attitude was one of someone who had seen decades of culture change but still wasn't done with being creative. It will be interesting to see where his next body of work takes him.

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#NYFW: Nicole Miller Celebrates Street Art

This was a fun show, Nicole Miller was one of my favorites as a student at Parsons.  I love seeing how her brand has made a big comeback as a trendsetter rather than being the prom dress staple in recent years.

To me, she was always the Queen of fabric prints. She single-handedly owned the "conversational print" category back in the 1980s and 1990s. At her Spring 2016 show, Nicole Miller is still killing it. This was a street art inspired collection. The clothing patterns ranged from graffiti to more intricate mural patterns to a subtle monochromatic dripping paint. More red carpet worthy were the fully beaded and sequined gowns head to toe street art colors. The more casual sportswear included flowing tops and slim pants. There were long maxi skirts and sharp dresses. Graphic prints on short shorts were cute with a great solid top.

Nicole Miller brings out lots of celebrity fans of course, but it was a particular treat to see the ladies of Orange is the New Black glammed up and having a great time together.

All photos by Mariana Leung

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Clarion Alley Street Art - Graffiti in Fashion

This is my last day in San Francisco. I made a trip to the city's famed Clarion Alley, known for its amazing street art. In the 1990s, the mural project was first conceptualized by several residents of the street. Now it is a constantly rotating outdoor gallery depicting the struggles of gentrification and displacement in the community (more timely than ever).

Graffiti and street art has always been an inspiration to other creatives. Once a menace to property owners, street art is now a widely recognized medium being sought after by brands and collaborators alike.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Punk: Chaos to Couture Exhibit showed plenty of graffiti adorned styles. Perrier collaborated with prominent street artists around the world in their campaign last year. Designer Marc Jacobs and Kidult had an on-going feud that many suspected was a collaboration. The artist  Kidult defacing the designer's boutique with graffiti and then Jacobs responding by selling fashion with the Kidult's artwork as revenge.

For fall 2015, regal fashion designer Naeem Khan commissioned a mural as the backdrop from Miami artist Trek6. Moschino worked cartoons and street art into their fall 2015 collection. Raf Simons created a graffiti coat for fall 2015 worn by Rihanna.

Graffiti and street art may have come from humble beginnings, but it has increasingly become haute. Graffiti fashion is the literal expression of street style!

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Street Style Meets Street Art in NYC

I came to New York to go to design school.The city offers endless inspiration with its NYC street art making everything around you an urban gallery. The colors and textures of the murals act as a frame for the style and fashion on the sidewalks.  When Perrier asked me to share the work that I love, I jumped at the chance.

My favorite mural in the city has to be the Eduardo Kobra work in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. I love strolling south along the elevated Highline Park and seeing the bright colors of his second story window unveiled through the trees. It is a romantic piece, his rendition of the famous Times Square photograph of the VJ Day kiss. 

In a city of such great work, the walls act as a frame for the pavement runway. The galleries in Chelsea continuously churn out fashionable people who stride from side to side to admire the next artistic genius. I wanted to pay tribute to the psychedelic color palette of this Brazilian artist when I climbed down off the Highline to pose in front of the street level mural of vintage cars and pedestrians. 

I didn’t know it at the time, but Kobra was one of the artists chosen by Perrier to redesign their bottle and label. He helped bring the spirit of graffiti and a Technicolor touch to their new campaign. Perrier was clearly as inspired by his work as I was. 

I see how the super bright colors of Eduardo Kobra art merge seamlessly into the dark industrial edges of New York. The fashion industry is often chided for our love of the color black as a uniform.  Seeing Kobra’s work showed me how to style the most exaggerated of hues with my staple noir wardrobe.  In this world, everything else is the new black.

This post is sponsored by Perrier® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water in celebration of its new limited Street Art® edition. This limited edition packaging is a collaboration between Perrier and three of the world’s influential street artists: JonOne, Sasu and Kobra. To see the full line of collectible designs and learn more about this exciting debut, visit www.SocietePerrier.com/StreetArtbyPerrier  and join the conversation with #StreetArtByPerrier

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Perrier via Mode Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Perrier.

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