American fashion star Christopher John Rogers on the battle against “quiet luxury”

Our fashion, Christopher John Rogers, new star with bold designs, is worn by Zendaya and Gigi Hadid. Behind the scenes at his New York Fashion Week show, he speaks of style, hierarchy and clothing as a “tool for hope.”

Connecting the dots between the past and future of New York fashion may begin with some real dots. They are the size of the bottom of the bottle, and in the colours of skittle sweets such as orange, lime, cherry, and grapes, embrace the rims of jackets, dresses and corsets. Anne Hathaway wears dots. Zendaya wears dots. Gigi Hadid is wearing dots. During Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in 2024, Dots gleamed at the homes of 23.6 million Americans.

Cain-Mis-It Motif was designed by 32-year-old Christopher John Rogers, an American fashion designer who counts style icon Diane Von Furstenberg as his mentor and Louisiana as his hometown. Alumni at Savannah College of Art and Design, Rogers quickly came to ours thanks to his unique embrace of colours and his unique embrace combined with the powerful command of tailored layers of elegance. It is becoming a new appearance in style.

By making Italian wool pants in sparkling rose gold and cocktail flocks in bold cartoon red, Rogers and his longtime business partner Christina Ripley stage the attacks of Silk and Merino I’m doing it.Quiet luxury“, de facto The muted beige cashmere coat and box-shaped anonymous black handbag fashion uniforms were popular in TV inheritance by fictional Titans and edgy, understated New York labels like rows and kites.

“I’m trying to flatten some levels with my design,” Rogers says behind the scenes on his New York Fashion Week show. Vogue’s Longtimeleader Anna Wintour And actress Keke Palmer sits in the front row. This is a sign of a commitment to designers, given the show was held at the industrial former fish factory in Brooklyn and the Navy Yard far away. “How can you help us feel like we belong, but do you feel it’s okay to stand out? American fashion is in a fluid state,” the designer tells the BBC. “We want newness. We want transformation. But we need to try some fresh approaches. We use clothes as a tool for hope. To do this, people have to get excited about wearing clothes again and using clothes. We’re heading down the street for coffee.”

Rogers’ bold but accurate jackets and dresses have made the designers stand out on agenda setting boutiques and platforms such as Bergdorf Goodman, Nieman Marcus and NetAporter. They also made Rising’s fashion star extraordinary. Along with contemporaries like Sergio Hudson and his brother Aurora James of Belize, Rogers is one of the black fashion designers sold at large luxury retailers.

“In a way, I hate having to talk about it,” Rogers says. “So I’m honored to have the responsibility and opportunity to be a black designer right now, but the fact that as an industry we are still dealing with that lack of expression is sometimes difficult. That’s what I mean personally. I find this pressure “perfect.” To explore that tension, Rogers calls his new collection “breathing,” shaking the shock of black party frocks and Brown Wall Street with pops of Rilak, Rosemary Green and Flamingo Pink. Double his spirit. “Some people are never going to get it,” Rogers shrugged. “But the store, and certainly the fans, a lot of people see it. teeth. ”

Rogers’ success began seven years ago when the designer released his first eponymous collection from a small Chinatown studio in Manhattan. Initially he was waiting for the table to buy the gorgeous fabric needed for his 25 looks, but he soon hired US designer Rosie Assoulin, as well as British designers Jonathan Saunders and Von Furstenberg himself. I was done. “Like a silly effort, I really believe in success,” he laughs. “But I also really believe that being a nice person and kind person is the only way to work in fashion. Then I take my ego out and make sure teamwork is the only way to do it. I’ve noticed it.”

He literally means that. In 2019, Rogers was awarded the prestigious CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund Award. In 2021, he defeated established industry icons such as Marc Jacobs and Gabriella Hurst to the CFDA Women’s Wear Designer of the Year Award, and won the prestigious LVMH Award nomination from a Paris luxury conglomerate.

But industry acclaim is only half of the fashion puzzle. The real goal is to let people buy yours. On that front, Rogers is also active in business thanks to his understanding of the norms of a hybrid office style. During the pandemic, Rogers candy-colored knitwear and spanked sweater dresses have become a favorite of the house from star poses such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Rihanna. Last October, he made his first collaboration with J-Crew. This included 40 adults and 8 children. Both his main collection and his high street range, he offers extended sizing to include as many potential shoppers as possible.

“Everyone wants an exciting dress that’s actually made to fit their body.” Marie Claire Who featured Rogers’ designs in the magazine, and her shopping newsletter Self-checkout. Ogunnaike says Rogers’ “surprising” success is nodding to American shoppers who don’t actually live in New York or Los Angeles. “A black fashion designer from the American South never used such a culture to shape his perspective in such a strong, fun and accessible way,” she told the BBC. Masu. The most obvious reinterpretation of Rogers’ South American motifs – a plaided fuchsia address with a bell-shaped silhouette that looks like a reclaimed, retrained hoop skirt – is now Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

“What he does in strong, vibrant, almost rebellious colors, and the more formal dressed silhouettes are really important from a cultural standpoint,” says Ogunnaike. “But that’s important because we actually want to dress. They’re so much fun. So many people look good and can wear it their own way. want You will have a great time in your life. He gets it! ”

Actress Cake Palmer, who sat in the front row of Rogers’ catwalk show, agrees in a designer-based white peplum gown and blue feathered coat. “It’s charming!” she screams at her red carpet, and she screams as the Flashbulles pops around her. “And now. He is now.”