NYFW SS11: ASHER LEVINE

Asher Levine is definitely one to watch. An up and coming designer who embraces pushing the envelope - he instinctively believes that risk equals recognition and the proof was in the puddin' at his balls to the wall spring 2011 presentation.

 The venue was a hole in the wall that sat 40 people at most but, the attendees felt closer to Asher as the setting was intimate and far less pretentious then the average showcasing at Milk studio.

Sitting waiting for the presentation to begin I looked around at the incredibly eccentric crowd which only heightened my curiosity & anticipation. There were men in full makeup, "women" with big hair, and every cliche you would expect to find at a hot, new, underground fashion designer's expose.

What really had me intrigued was the white screen with two climb holes and the large rectangular box on the floor. The lighting was a dim blue, and I felt like an abduction by extraterrestrials was about to take place. The lights cued, and much to my surprise a short film popped up on the screen. The movie set the mood for the collection. It brought the city into nature, and made grunge beautiful, there were cliche sun spots, and angled trees, and obviously no dialogue, just music, nature, and clothing. The movie ended and the rectangular box ripped open, and out came the first model, wearing nothing but a fringe loin cloth- ahhh to be a gay boy in NYC. 

The models began to file out from behind the screen and Asher Levine birthed a literally "out of this world" collection.  The men's collection would have also fared well as a women's line had it been tweaked ever so slightly. From skin tight woven dresses to fringe skirts, and white pants. There were snake skin jackets, flouncy parkas that transformed into full blow jumpsuits, totally spacey wing tipped sneakers, and white leather pants. The clothing was constructed beautifully, but it takes a real man to pull it off. The leather was beautiful to say the least, and it was used exactly how it was intended.  Sam and I both agree that with a little work- Asher Levine could be the next MCQUEEN. .

The show was a bit longer then I would have liked but, it was nice to take a break from the socialite wanna-be scene if only for an evening.



xx

Jen Moore

   

                                                              

xx

Jen Moore