Dear Shaded Viewers,
No one except the incomparable Kelly Cutrone could pull off a fashion show and a lively voodoo ritual—complete with Haitian drummers—together on one catwalk.
“We wanted to go back pre-Lilith and Eve to bring forth the ancient feminine in her true form,” Cutrone wrote in the notes for the show staged at Industria Studios.
She is on a mission to use love and magic to heal, and to address the current state of fashion.
“The industry is at a crossroads, the young, emerging and highly talented artists are at risk of extinction, especially with depressed and confused retail environments.”
“Voudon Mambo Sallie Ann Glassman is with us tonight from New Orleans, she will lead the ceremony,” Cutrone continues. “We love you all, we love New York, we love all of Humanity and we stand here today with you all in the spirit of the truth, beauty, healing, transformation and power of art to bring people together and heal.”
The three designers who showed—Mimi Prober, Hogan McLaughlin and Lamine Kouyate of Xuly.Bët—are not only repped by Cutrone but are her collaborators.
Xuly.Bët
Lamine Kouyate founded his brand in Paris in 1992, which combines the designer’s street influence with a strong African vision. The colorful prints were definitely a big mood booster, much-needed for gloomy New York February and the daily onslaught of infuriating news.
Lamine Kouyate
J. Alexander and Whoopi Goldberg backstage.
Hogan McLaughlin
McLaughlin lives in Salem, Massachusetts and was plucked from obscurity by none other than Daphne Guinness, via his Twitter account, in 2011. He collaborated with Guinness on some of his first pieces, which ended up in the windows of Barneys and FIT. This prolific artist is also a ballet dancer and an illustrator, and he has created promotional images for Game of Thrones, Penny Dreadful and Vikings.
Hogan McLaughlin
“The industry is at a crossroads, the young, emerging and highly talented artists are at risk of extinction, especially with depressed and confused retail environments.” —Kelly Cutrone
Mimi Prober
Prober’s eco-friendly, waste-free clothes are made from recovered fragments of antique materials dating from the 18th to early 20th centuries, and natural and locally produced luxury fabrics. She employs old-world techniques such as botanical dye processes, hand felting, weaving and hand embroidery.
Mimi Prober. I have met Mimi several times at Kelly Cutrone’s office and I always remark how she reminds me of a Guy Bourdin model!
The audience was full of beautiful, stylish women. I highly approve of turbans at all times.
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Glenn Belverio
