Muse Closet: Rebel in Black–Fall 2011

Rebel in Black

Neo-Goth
Neo-Goth

As leaves fall and glisten in the final moments of the summer sun. Color blocking has spun editors into a tizzy of wild passion. However, while magazine editors and fashion bloggers have pushed every Crayola hue, New York’s indie designers  have given us Neo-Goth for fall/winter 2011; utilitarian clothes made for the city that go against the mainstream fashion set by only showing black.

Neo-Goth is not scary Marilyn Manson Goth, and is more wearable than Haute Goth designers such as Rick Owens, Olivier Theysken, and Yohji Yamamoto whose influences hail from the Victorian era. A new crop of designers seem to be rebelling against the status quo, which has not been seen since the early Punk days of Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, and Vivienne Westwood. Neo-Goth idealism is a new standard for fashionistas who want something beyond label branded marketed clothes. Rad by Rad Hourani was my Neo-Goth highlight, Rad’s collection has taken dark Gothic emotions and twisted them into wearable standards for today’s fashion savvy: black legging, fitted coats, and platform shoes were interchangeable on boys and girls. Rad morphed angular shapes, multiply zippers, and androgyny into sheer street style.

Accessories
Accessories

Rad’s collection is a step towards a future of blurred lines between male and female identification through iconography. Yes, in the nineties Jean Paul Gaultier and Calvin Klein used female and male attire on gender-bending models to generate runway news, but Rad’s collection is what a real men and women will be wearing in reality. Neo-Goth is a way for individuals to take their personal style beyond traditional clothing rules by creating new codes in dress for male and female attire—all you have to do is bring your attitude!

Muse Closet

Runway footage: [wpvideo 06kBhdXE]