No wallflowers

Meet Raun Larose, the New York designer making menswear to stand out in
By Douglas Greenwood | Fashion | 27 March 2017
Above:

Raun LaRose FW17. Photography Kevin Buitrago

New York City’s fashion legacy is inextricably tied to streetwear – a style subculture that makes up a major part of mainstream fashion today. And while much of those clothes have watered down from their urban roots to become subtle and minimal, for those who want to stand out, the Big Apple’s towering cityscape leaves no room for low-key casual wear. That’s where native New Yorker and designer Raun LaRose comes in.

Fusing streetwear with exuberant left-field elements, LaRose’s FW17 presentation at NFYW was an eye-catcher. Layering bright white hooded sweatshirts over skewed-collared dress shirts, he also introduced a billowing trouser silhouette – amply filling the grey area between tailored trouser and skater jean. Here, the designer reflects on the collection, talking dream muses, proportions and political subtext in fashion.

Douglas Greenwood: What was it that drew you towards fashion in the first place?
Raun LaRose: Fashion was a major part of my childhood, with my mom being a womenswear designer. I knew that I loved clothes early on, but it wasn’t until my teens that I was able to fully comprehend that I was interested in fashion beyond the point of what I wore.

Douglas: What inspired your FW17 collection?
Raun: I started compiling images by some of my favourite artists like Erwin Wurm and Wolfgang Tillmans, and thought about the reasons why I found their work so inspiring, as well as how I could incorporate some of their concepts into actual garments in a more practical way.

Douglas: Did you imagine anyone specific wearing it?
Raun:  The figure wearing the collection would be [someone like] Theo Hurts, Ashton Sanders or Rihanna.

GALLERY

“The new fashion generation are so outspoken in the way we choose to represent ourselves. With all of the changes in the world, we’ve just come to a place of assurance within ourselves – we no longer need approval for the way we choose to dress.”

Douglas: There are elements of exaggeration in your collection. What drove you to experiment with this?
Raun: I like the idea of playing with proportions and finding ways to add some sort of extra layer of personality through clothes. When I started the process for collection, I already had a solid gauge of the overall feel that I wanted to have – that was a play on mainstream silhouettes, but with exaggerated inclusions.

Douglas: Your runway looks pair blazers with casual hooded sweatshirts and billowing pants. What is it that makes these two opposing forms of menswear marry so well when worn together?
Raun: I had a talk with my good friend Nancy about a year ago about the new fashion generation being so outspoken in the way we choose to represent ourselves. I feel with all of the changes that the world has brought over the years we’ve just come to a place of assurance within ourselves, we no longer need approval for the way we choose to dress.

Throughout the collection process, I kept using the term New Look, that was introduced to me by Christian Dior, and thinking, “Why not pair jeans with a high end jacket?” or, “Why does a blazer always always have to be presented in the form of a suit?” For me, it’s all about bringing out the beauty within contrast and keeping a certain level of unexpectedness.

Raun LaRose FW17. Photography Kevin Buitrago

Douglas: Your use of colour is so interesting, you shift from dark browns to electric blues to dusty, eggshell shades. Can you discuss that a little?
Raun: The funny thing about it is that when I first started design school, I was actually pretty terrible at mainly every subject besides basic-construction and colour theory. [The latter] was actually my favourite subject because I discovered the importance of colour. My mind would run rampant with ideas and ways to contrast them, while still making it appealing or complimentary as a whole. That’s been my process ever since.

For FW17, I thought about colours that I do and don’t see normally – ones that I like and ones that I felt were appropriate for the season. I spent about two to three months finalising the colour palette.

“I felt a strong sense of hopelessness when Trump got elected. I was left confused and had so many things that I wanted to say, but chose to approach the situation in a more subtle way.”

Douglas: Do you think that fashion has a responsibility to make political statements or should it be a place for escapism?
Raun: I feel fashion should – and will – always be an outlet for expression. There has to be something deeper to the point of just making clothes, but for me it’s more about how you get that point across rather than just making a point because it’s a current topic of conversation. I live in America – New York, to be exact – and for myself, personally as well as emotionally, I felt a strong sense of hopelessness when Trump got elected. I was left confused and had so many things that I wanted to say, but chose to approach the situation in a more subtle way. I’ve learned that not everything has to be said with words or demonstrations. If you look at the collection closely, you’ll find one look in particular that is emblematic of this.


Read Next