Lorena Pipenco intimately presented her F/W ‘24 collection in the pink warmth of the Ansā concept store in New York City’s Union Square.
Text by Jeremy Whitaker
Imagery courtesy of Elinor Kry and Ojeras
Pipenco’s Ready-to-Wear runway show was presented following the end of New York Fashion Week, seemingly to satisfy the leftover cravings of NYC’s fashion lovers both figuratively and literally. Upon arrival, guests were greeted by the smell of coffee while drawn to a sculpturesque Red Dress surrounded by pastries and sweets.
The deliciously tantalizing pastries took a back seat only to delight in the runway presentation itself. From beginning to end, the 15-piece collection was entirely youthful in its whimsy.
After the show, Lorena Pipenco described the collection, saying, “The pieces are very inspired by chaotic kids. I was quite a goody two shoes but my brothers were very cheeky, and my sister is quite gothic, so we had different kinds of kids coming in with different personalities. The looks are just reflecting that emotion.”
I noticed mud-stained knees, scribbled markers for makeup, and crunchy delights found in stockings and on the models’ bodies. “When I was younger, my Mom would put me in pretty cute outfits, and then I would go out and roll in the mud,” says Pipenco.
“Were you a chaotic kid?” I asked. “I was very nice to my mom… but I was messy for sure,” she laughed.
The garments themselves were a playground of texture featuring silver Pipenco logo buttons and buckle embellishments. She describes the varying texture as “the reflection of the different household items and chandeliers from our home and the juxtaposition between the soft organic feeling and a bit of that hardness too.”
An impossible-to-miss detail was the models' footwear. “The shoes for me are the highlight,” says Lorena. “They're an illusion boot. It's a kid's shoe made in a boot to question people's perspectives. It's creating that tension between adulthood and youth, making the viewer wonder ‘How is this working?’”
Following the show, guests and models alike descended on the Red Dress and the stack of pastries. There were two types of attendees that night: those who took it as a photo opportunity, and those who partook in its sweetness.
The commonality between all of the guests was the excitement at the young designer’s success and the childlike sense of wonder that we left with.
Highlights from the Collection
