The Elena Velez girl is layered, lascivious but laudable, disruptive but divine – or, as Velez places it within the present notes, “each Eve and the Serpent, each the sailor and the siren.” This multidimensional matriarch is a folkloric feminine figurehead the Milwaukee-born designer has been sharpening since her debut assortment in 2018, and much more so since beginning her “YR” sequence of collections in 2021. Velez is now at “YR:006” for Fall/Winter 2025, a spread entitled “LEECH” that takes her storytelling to a different stage in her largest showcase so far and continues to attract from allegory and American aspiration to discover the dualities of EV’s shadow girl muse.
Velez gathered over 100 attendees in Chelsea’s ARTECHOUSE, stripping the venue of all of its decor, darkening the lighting and transitioning it right into a legendary “maritime abyss,” with the screens on the partitions surrounding us in rocky waters and stone sculptures constructed all through the shipwrecked venue.
“The age of the antihero is upon us,” the present notes contextualize. “In a second in time the place our myths and grand narratives really feel extra out of date than ever, we glance in the direction of new and imperfect depictions of greatness and potential. Folkloric figures who muddle the excellence between good and evil.” With this ethical distinction on the core of the gathering, fashions – all adorned with distinct smokey make-up and assertion hairstyles – included opener Anna Delvey (ankle bracelet and all), Dorian Electra, Leah McSweeney and Rico Nasty to shut the present.
Nevertheless, fashions didn’t precisely strut the runway. Somewhat, they crawled, slithered and stomped down the winding path that weaved out and in of the viewers seating. The third mannequin, who donned a cream-colored corset high and textured black trousers tucked into black boots, even interacted with seated visitors, sustaining intense eye contact whereas lunging towards a number of the benches.
Outfitting the “supernatural muse of seduction and subversion” via a complete of 30 seems, the runway was break up into three totally different shadow girl personas, with fashions aligning with both “The Captain’s Daughter” (Velez really being one, her mom a ship captain), “The Land Walker” or “The Leech.” Spinning societal requirements and expectations on their head, Velez employs ropes, netting, and metallic all through her designs.
The present notes proceed to explain the EV shadow girl as a “priestess possessing the knowledge of the ages but as unknowable and unfathomable because the maritime abyss” in addition to a “a creature absolutely built-in along with her shadow self, steadily shedding the scales of her prescribed id.”
Nevertheless, alongside her hanging, assertion silhouettes of raunchy ruffled clothes, tactically tattered tops and seaweed-crafted units, Velez additionally tones it down in a supply of what her PR group calls extra “industrial” items. Taking over simply as a lot area as standout clothes just like the key-dangling mini gown a lineup of labor jackets, double-zip leather-based items, modern trenchcoats and trousers – “fundamentals” washed ashore and reimagined via the unmistakable design lens of Velez.
Discover Elena Velez’s Fall/Winter 2025 “LEECH” within the runway photographs above and have a look backstage with photographer Sarah Schecker beneath.
