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Prince George Ballroom

Fashion

CHRISTOPHER LOWMAN: AN “OUTSIDER’S” VIEW FROM THE INSIDE

“I LIE TO MYSELF ALL THE TIME. BUT I NEVER BELIEVE ME.”

Those were the words uttered by S.E Hinton, author of The Outsiders and inspiration for one of fashion’s newest impresarios. Christopher Lowman, at just 23, he debuted his first ever collection at Men’s Fashion Week in New York January 30th. His journey to the top began with a simple DM from Chris Brown’s stylist EJ King at age 21 to get his United Nations Leather Jacket on Chris for his tour. I vividly remember seeing the jacket when my brother and I saw him live, never envisioning I would meet nor become friends with the man that designed it. Let alone be sitting across from him at table at Cafe Medi at the Hotel on Rivington, it’s décor is vibrant and reflected his journey he shared with me, his process, and love of fashion; and at the same time him being gracious enough to lend me two of the exact jackets that had graced his runway debut the night before. Since that debut the requests that have flown in, and this is a young man on the rise. Even prior to his debut his clothing has been featured in Nylon, Bello, Indie, and numerous other publications.

Christopher Lowman, who at four years my junior, is wise beyond his years and far ahead of his age in talent when it comes to design.  From his experience interning for fashion greats to realizing his dream and doing everything he could to make it happen, he goes after what he wants. I had direct messaged him on Instagram when he posted he was doing his first men’s fashion week show back in November of 2016, and he graciously extended me an invitation in his response. Throughout the months that followed we continued to correspond, my anticipation grew as he shared with me his sources of inspiration for his new collection based off of one of my favorite movies. 

My friend and I arrived at the Prince George Ballroom that evening knowing that it would be good. I didn’t know how brillinant until the models began their entry down the runway perfectly timed to the beat drop of 2 AM by Bear Hands. Chris later told me how difficult it was to select the music for the show and the timing of the models walking, which I could only imagine as being an insanely personal thing for your New York Fashion Week debut. There were many pieces in his new collection that resonated with me, two of which he personally dropped off to me the following day to shoot in. My obvious favorite was the gray flannel coat that’s sleeves read on one side FUCK OFF and the other side REBEL. I did an awesome boomerang on my Instagram @MrBGB in it if you want to check it out. The second was a metallic silver leather bomber with REBEL embellished across the chest and fangs rising from the bottom in black leather. Then there was his Queen Elizabeth shirt, with a portrait of the Queen on the front and back and does not close like a normal shirt. It is completely open on the sides like a crop pullover of sorts, or as I like to call it #CoachellaGoals. Finally was his nude leather jacket that was hand painted on by a friend of his, with lines from the film The Outsiders such as “Stay gold PONYBOY stay gold.” Paired with light denim jeans with pyramid rips on the leg and thigh that I loved and had never seen on denim, I knew this was a brand that I would keep adding to my collection.

This is a man, who brought his friend up at the finale because he helped him with the collection…who really does that in fashion for their first ever New York Fashion Week debut? From that moment on I knew this emerging designer not only possessed the charisma and skill to excel beyond the levels I think that even he realizes, but the humility to never forget those who helped him achieve his dreams or lose sight of the dedication and people that brought him to where he is and will continue to climb. During our lunch he told me all about what got him to where he was, perseverance without compromise, never losing sight of his end goal. Our two-hour conversation taught me a great deal and I left that afternoon with a new friend and new perspective on how I wanted to achieve my goals.

As they say in the film that inspired the collection and that was splattered across his nude leather jacket, “I’d rather have anybody’s hate than their pity.” Christopher Lowman is a name to rememeber, you’ll be hearing about him for a long time to come.

 

Fashion

MEN’S NEW YORK FASHION WEEK: FW17

The Velvet Resistance  The island of Manhattan is hit with the familiar tsunami of energy; you can taste the anticipation in the frigid air. This year was the first time that I was able to attend both the Men’s and…