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subscribe to style file blog via RSSBlasblog: Patrik Ervell’s Gender-Bending
February 15, 2009 10:05 pm
Pier 59 Studios on the West Side Highway is used to being packed with fancy fashion folk. (The majority of Steven Meisel’s legendary shots are taken in these very halls.) But things were particularly crammed at Patrik Ervell’s most recent offering Saturday afternoon. Every single seat in the venue—one of the spacious, silver studios in the building—filled up, forcing some of Ervell’s biggest fans, like Terence Koh and Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon, to sit on the floor. (That’ll teach ‘em to get there late.) Perhaps this heightened sense of interest had something to do with the designer’s first steps into womenswear; although Ervell’s designs have been exclusively for boys in previous seasons, this show was the first time a girl has found her way on the runway—not counting the startlingly androgynous long-haired lads common to his cast. Backstage I asked Ervell why he ventured into feminine territory. “I’ve always liked that slim, clean look,” he said, adding that he’s a fan of gender-bending in his collections (explaining the pearl details on one boy’s ski sweater). So are Ervell’s new muses same-sex-oriented females? “Instead of typecasting them as lesbians, I prefer to say ‘butch women that dress like men,’” Ervell clarified. And while more than one girl has shown up in Ervell’s creations off the runway, he’s remaining mum on coming out with an entire women’s line. I guess we’ll have to wait till next season’s packed presentation.
tags: Patrik Ervell
