R13. Spring 2021 RTW - New York

                                                (Images:  R13.  All credit)

You have to admire a city like New York, as an iconic fixture in its urban mythos.  The city itself, seems almost detached from the broader American dream, holding onto its own resonation of exceptionalism.  Yet, when Covid-19 tore through America in the first wave, to which NYC was the epicenter, it is, as a layman's observation in view of a global pandemic.  There has only been a first and possibly second wave on the horizon, despite the scientific community shunning the categorization - it would only be based on the initial lockdown at the beginning of 2020.  As the first quarantine has past and maybe, for NYC, there could be a second.  Come the winter months.  However the race to set a vaccine date remains a possibility for 2020, pending trials, it could be more like 2021 before a well tested Covid-19 vaccine will be avalaible.  Still, within all this uncertainty and a Presidential election looming, New York has been able to bring their infection rates down from over 11,000 in one day to 500, which in all retrospect has been an admirable feat.

It is this respect for the resilience of a city, that is also home to NYC native and creative director of R13, Chris Leba, who, since his Fall 2017 debut at New York Fashion Week has been alternating his collection over the years from stylized lookbooks to runway shows.  However for his 2021 Spring array, it is far more stripped back and rawer presentation.  This is Leba's post quarantine showing, in homage to his New York environment.  Revealing  R13's latest lookbook in a xerox 'zine' appeal, that if you are aware of the punk and hardcore days of the early to late 1980s.  It was all do-it-yourself zines, photocopied, cut and paste sincerity as an underground alternative to the glossy magazines.  Representing the subculture of a city, which still echoes a quite debate of its popular culture history.  Did punk originate in NYC or the UK?

Regardless of the subculture roots Leba continues to draw from the late 1970s and 1980s punk ethos, incorporating all the variants of the underground music scene within his prior collections.  In its nod of respect to a musical movement that is all but faded memories of what it once was; from the Ramones to The Clash, the aesthetics and fashion on display influenced so much of the runways thereafter.  

Mostly denim and monochrome inspired styles set again the black and white lookbook, with its textured wear and tear. Also noted are Leba's punk cowboy looks, seen in previous seasons, maintaining his personal imprint, whilst breaking the collection up into more tailored styles intermixed with a tougher edge.  Yet, it is an emergence of the drapey avant-garde trend which is surfacing for 2020.   To which Leba has also evoked throughout his latest collection.