The VFiles platform has long had a knack for cultivating up-and-coming design success stories.
Gypsy Sport presented its first collection with VFiles several years back and is now thriving in its own right, bringing gender-bending clothes to the New York runways every season. Likewise Kozaburo, the menswear brand by Kozaburu Akasaka that was nominated for an LVMH award this year.
VFiles kicked off New York Fashion Week on Wednesday night with a show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The whole affair was meant to start at 7:30, though—as is often the case on Planet Fashion—it would be another hour before the spectacle began. Much of that time was spent outside amid utter chaos, as guests waited impatiently to get in and vocalized their frustrations. “Literally, this is a total nightmare” was one such declaration of apparent torture (it should be noted that “literally” is one of the most frequently overheard words during fashion week, often delivered with melodramatic, exasperated affect).
But it was well worth the wait once everyone was seated and Offset, an artist from the hip-hop trio Migos, drove a yellow Lamborghini into the center of the runway, smoking a blunt as he stepped out of his car to join the rest of the front row. Then came the trio of designers: JunJie Yang, Louis Pileggi, and Christian Stone, all presenting collections they created as students at design schools like Central Saint Martin and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. If the clothes we saw at VFiles were any indication of what’s to come this week, there will be even more breaking down cultural barriers this season than last.
JunJie Yang’s menswear collection featured seasonless separates, many of them oversized and with unexpected twists in their construction.
Sara Sayed
The most wearable pieces from the most wearable collection at VFiles. Indeed, Yang earned the biggest applause from the audience when he came out at the end of his presentation.
Sara Sayed
A look from Louis Pileggi’s collection of rich prints, precise but unusual cuts, and zippers in unexpected places.
Sara Sayed
Jessie J offered a break from the fashion with her performance at VFiles. “Art never stops moving,” she told the crowd. “It’s hard to find constant inspiration sometimes... Never trust your instincts. Fucking act on them.”
Sara Sayed
Up close with a model in Louis Pileggi’s collection.
Sara Sayed
Looks like this one felt vaguely derivative, as if Pileggi were riffing on the streetwear we’ve come to associate with designers like Vetements.
Sara Sayed
One of the male models wearing a tattered, oversized anorak—another streetwear-inspired piece from Pileggi’s collection.
Sara Sayed
An otherworldly, crochet-knit headscarf from London-based designer Christian Stone’s “Mutant Artisinal” collection. Several other looks featured bubble wrap hoodies and wings.
Sara Sayed
High fashion headwear meets the nun habit in Stone’s futuristic collection, which proved to be the least wearable at VFiles on Wednesday night.
Sara Sayed
