At New York Fashion Week, Helena Eisenhart, a Brooklyn-based independent queer designer, debuted its Fall/ Winter 2023 collection. With models strutting across bits of distressed mirror, against the backdrop of chain link fence, Helena’s world came to life in the midtown theater space.
Creating a unisex collection that deconstructs traditional uniforms and dress codes, the collection integrates up-cycled and deadstock materials. The Fall/Winter Collection playfully represents how the rules of dressing can be both powerful tools of distinction and identity, but can also be used to control and deceive. While showing that rules are ultimately meant to be broken, this collection continues the brand’s exploration of identity, questioning what it means to use garments as a means of conformity
As a queer, mixed race person living in New York City, Helena often feels both isolated and celebrated at the same time. Uniforms and dress codes have been a big inspiration for her work since it is a clear way to share multiple identities through manners of dressing. It’s both a way to blend in and to show power and distinction. To dress according to a code, can also mean, to dress in disguise.
Per Helena “Artificial intelligence and dolls are often an inspiration for my work because of how they represent an altered perception of reality. The movie La Haine is a regular inspiration for my work for its view on youth culture and abuse of power, as well as Gregg Araki’s teen apocalypse trilogy for its angsty, queer Asian American perspective on isolation and hysteria.”
The neutral palette of Helena’s collection reflects the numbed, machine like, and sometimes dissociative reaction to the world around us. Climate change combined with the ongoing pandemic have created a new set of rules for how to live our lives.
“I imagined what the “uniform” for H.E. would look like in this “dystopian future” that is in reality, our present day. To take classic uniform pieces in a more deconstructed process and make them my own,” concludes the designer.
To shop Helena Eisenhart please visit: https://www.helenaeisenhart.com/shop.
ABOUT HELENA EISENHART:
Established in 2015 in Brooklyn, the brand began as a playful experiment with one of one garments made from unusual textiles. From vinyl mesh screens found at construction sites to knits made from cassette tape, the collection focuses on creating sustainable designs, using upcycled vintage fabrics and trims in their garments and accessories. A unisex label, each piece is made using high-end tailoring techniques and collages of textiles that aim to tell a story. Helena’s practice is interdisciplinary; with a background in art, the brand blurs the line between fashion and art, and functions as a continuous exploration of identity. Helena Eisenhart invites you to explore new ways of thinking about the items we use or wear daily. To learn more please visit: https://www.helenaeisenhart.com/.
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Source: Helena Eisenhart, NYFW
