“Mind over body” was the mantra that powered Chromat’s fall collection. But that didn’t stop last night’s crowd from clicking, clapping, and screaming “Yasss,” every time another beautiful body stalked down the runway in one of designer Becca McCharen’s pieces — sculptural cages, latex suspenders that flashed cheeky winks from behind, and PVC bras fitted with neon-green laser beams.
“We were inspired by the synthetic on every level — from human consciousness to fake hair and Swarovski crystals,” McCharen explained after the show. She teamed up with Icelandic sculptor Hrafnhildur Arnardottir to create synthetic hair sculptures, with accessories line Metalepsis Projects to create 3-D printed jewelry, and with Michael Potvin of Nitemind to wire up those lasers, which flashed out light intended “to simulate neuron connections within the brain.”
New York’s downtown princess Maluca Mala closed out the show in what McCharen has dubbed the Laser Chakra Dress, a sheer black slip embedded with lasers aligned with each of the chakras. It was a fitting, fierce ending to a show about technology’s ability to empower. “I love that in the future our laser dresses will be able to scan the surroundings, collect data and feed information to the wearer,” mused McCharen. Chromat has always been about setting women up to take over the world. And if this collection was McCharen’s vision of the future, it’s one we want to live in.
Credits
Photography Kate Owen
Text Alice Newell-Hanson