Luar presents the fall winter 2023 collection in New York. Following the show, Calle Pero Elegante will remain on view at Faurschou, New York, until the 17th of February as part of a two-day exhibition, open to the public from 12pm-8pm.
Collection Notes
The lacquer on your memory doesn’t chip, even as it is passed down through clammy hands, grasped and held close to the chest. The foundation we walk on laid by the weight of a name, steps echoing on concretized respect – serendipity sans hindsight, an experience storied but not lived. Reputation precedes first-impression, judgment is subjective, legacy is not. The sacrifices you’ve made don’t lie with you, buried, we are their reincarnation, breathing.
For LUAR’s AW23 collection, Raul Lopez explores Calle Pero Elegante, translating to mean “street elegance” in Spanish. He remembers being a kid in Williamsburg, sitting on a park bench watching from a conservative distance as the laws of the land were laid down, not by traditional authority figures, but by those mafiosas who ran the neighborhood.
Empowerment
The women in these situations particularly took Lopez; they commanded a different kind of respect than men, from men. Their power was less about brute force and more so a caustic display of the astuteness they had cultivated, moving fluidly, sultrily, from one situation to the next, carving out distinction with their two-inch, french-tipped nails.
They understood detail down to the rings on their pinkies and flirted with pain while instilling fear in the hearts of those that would never know them, becoming mythic. For Lopez, these women and the company they kept exemplify street elegance – they remain the prototype.
With a nuanced understanding of community relating to performance and presence, Lopez acknowledges that these figures (gangstresses and good wives alike) pass on a different kind of generational wealth, introducing legacy as the coveted heirloom.
The Luar Family
Legacy ultimately represents what one’s family has worked for, the matrix of the hustle, and thus it can take many forms, from furs, Nike’s, and Jordan’s, to reverence – period. In the LUAR family, Lopez has made sacrifices, walking into rooms he wasn’t welcome in and creating space in the name of his community. Lopez thus opted to partner with Stella Artois for the second year in a row, hosting a Steluar three-day pop-up and creating an interactive runway experience to continue democratizing access to fashion while redefining luxury with connection.
Inviting us to enter a modern-day Gilded Era, through this collection, he showcases his take on the treasures he entrusts to the next generation, manifesting as pieces in the collection – artfully draped crepe skirts in conversation with tech-adjacent jackets, hooded gowns, and opulent take on the staple Ana bag – but also as a greater sense of empowerment.
These pieces signify and celebrate what it means to live without inhibition, to arrive, regardless of where you’re at in your life. Lopez hopes to give a voice to his culture at large, which wholeheartedly embraces his Dominican roots but extends far beyond them to encompass the entirety of New York’s diaspora. As New Yorkers go about their days, surrendering to possibility and rewriting fate, LUAR is a tangible reminder of our legacy.
Runway images, courtesy of Gregoire Avenel
Collection
