R13 RTW Fall 2022
“It’s my dark, Goth mood,” R13 designer Chris Leba said during a preview of his fall collection. The designer is one who constantly refers to his design process as “what feels right,” with influences from ideas and items he’s collected.
“Every season we collect things — it’s like stocking the pantry. A week before the line opens, it’s cooking time: we go into our pantry, see everything we have and start cooking,” he explained of the collection, which was styled to emphasize a play on proportions, like his exaggerated “hooded” jackets and shirting.
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The look: The dark side of R13’s signature cool-angst.
Quote of note: “It started when a friend of mine DM-ed me on Instagram showing me he had found an old Limelight T-shirt, the former club in the church — the logo is super Goth and I loved the look. From there, it evolved — things like me seeing the movie “Dune” influenced that witchy-superistic-Gothic feeling. The witches — Bene Gesserit — that’s the vibe when I look at the look book. I love the contradiction between Gothic medieval and then this whole futuristic juxtaposition, and of course it’s mixed with the R13 attitude.”
Key pieces: Techy outerwear and tops with exaggerated “hoods”; refurbished jackets and chunky footwear with hand-sewn chain and stud details; elongated graphic Ts and knits over frilled button-downs; baggy, ripped jeans; grungy plaid and floral layers.
The takeaway: “It’s part grunge, part Goth, part punk. We’re not trying to do grunge per se, but it’s an element and the final product is a weird mix of a lot of things that are both familiar and new. We’re always mixing juxtapositions” — an apt description of R13’s fall collection.
Launch Gallery: R13 RTW Fall 2022
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