“In America: Lexicon of Fashion”
Once in Stockholm Rocky Asap famously insisted he was not guilty, but as the final act of staircase ascent on his way up and into the Met ball he was definitely most “quilty” in confirming his entente with Rhianna …after all as they were so heavily covered in so many vestments, in the unremitting humidity she in Balenciaga he in a three hundred pound Schemata technicolor dream bedspread which he threw onto the red carpet like a blasé matador.
It was thematic chaos from the Fra Angelico halos of Iman and designer Harris Reed (read not Harris Tweed but read his tweets) to the Little Nas X (I am a miniature male Gaga) in a Versace royal cape, into a full gold suit of armor, and finally into a onesie glittering rhinestone or Swarovski nighttime sky star littered body suit
Then of course there was Alexandra Ocasio Cortez with “Tax the Rich” plastered on the part of her dress covering her butt as if trying to start the French Revolution while inside Versailles herself. Hopefully her own forces will drag her off to the Bastille
Kim Kardashian came stealthily sweeping in as if from a Calabasas Ninja training dojo to walk the stairs
The gala proved a star turn for not just one but two recent Central St. Martin’s London graduates. Firstly the aforementioned Harris and secondly American Connor Ives who believes that his childhood growing up place of the wealthy suburb of Bedford, New York is a rural outpost. The latter work not only graced the event but is also featured in the exhibition where he is lauded for his ethos of ‘Sustainable”.
The exhibition itself “In America: Lexicon of Fashion” has great intentions but feels not fully fleshed out in the least. Taking as it’s motif the famous quilt speech by Jesse Jackson at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in which he said ..America is not like a blanket- one piece of unbroken cloth. America is more like a quilt- many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven together by a common thread.” But then again Garments are not people themselves but rather wearable personal environments which can only aspire to portray the creator’s intentions.
Here creations by clothing designers are assigned an adjective and held in open air cases whose overall architectural display structure was created out from a quilt by Adele Harris Sears begun in 1856 now called “Quilt, Tumbling Blocks with Signatures pattern” in which autographs of the days famous figures such Abraham Lincoln sign the individual blocks in the pattern. There are moments when the vision of an inclusive America shine such as the comparison of the Ralph Lauren American Flag sweater to one by employing David Hammons “Black American Flag”; however it is just a fit and start and thrown in with everything else from Norman Norell, to Calvin Klein, to Charles James. But of course that which was only shortly articulated Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez was going to demonstrate for us what it is supposed to mean as a spy with say on here derriere in the house of money honey buns.