We might live in the era of streetwear and dad sneakers, but Zoë Bleu Sidel chooses to inhabit another universe entirely. “I prefer to live in my own fantasy world,” the actor and designer told i-D two years ago, “it’s so much nicer.” And in 2018, who doesn’t want to put this mortal coil on hold for an otherworldly gothic fairytale of velvet ribbons, vintage slips, and Edwardian lace veils? Sidel doesn’t just forage for these pieces at thrift stores and estate sales, she creates them, first as part of fashion collective Nautae and now under a brand new label called Wherein I Dwell. The first collection includes a dramatically gathered parachute dress with exaggerated shoulders, liquid silk pieces layered and slashed in unexpected ways, and a “Wailing Water” dress spilling streamers of translucent green fabric. Think Miss Havisham meets a child bride reborn as a lovesick sea nymph.
“I think the whole point of fashion is the playfulness with one’s own illusion,” Sidel says of Wherein I Dwell’s conception. “I think it’s a special point in time where more people have finally found the courage to rebirth themselves; dressing is just the easiest approach.” In theatrical terms, Wherein I Dwell is a medieval romantic tragedy. “Love, like most beasts, salivates and bares sharp teeth,” Sidel continues. “A lot of this collection spawned from the ruins of two kinds of heartbreak.” She wrote a ballet called Undine — named for the elemental creatures first appearing in the works of the alchemist Paracelsus — about a woman whose heart was so heavy that she sank to the bottom of the ocean. “Romance is a dance,” she says, like drowning.”
But Wherein I Dwell isn’t a one-woman production. As she did with Naute, Sidel designs her new brand with friends — in this case Georginia Butz. “Or worlds we have mended together ripen more and more each day,” she says of creation and collaboration, citing a quote on friendship by Anais Nin: “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” Wherein I Dwell’s first editorial — shot by Jakob Landvik and styled by Thistle Brown — depicts model couple Aida Blue and Jordan Legessa engaged in a modern-day Undine dance. See it here exclusively on i-D and get the collection when it drops this month.
Credits
Photography Jakob Landvik
Styling Thistle Brown
Hair Matt Benns
Models Aida Blue and Jordan Legessa @ Heroes