Time was against designer Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen when she decided to stage a runway show for her fall 2024 collection. She had resolved that she could not afford to put on a show this time around, but then her community rallied.
She found a venue at 154 Scott, the space in Bushwick that hosts an abundance of artists (it was the setting of Luar’s triumphant show this season) and also features a members-only club with a gym, pool, and a myriad of facilities one would not have found in the neighborhood 10 years ago. Gustavia found models in her friends and colleagues; and hair stylists and makeup artists willing to lend their time to her cause. Her show took place on the second-to-last day of New York Fashion Week at 5PM, off-schedule.
The original idea, Whalen said at a re-see of her collection, was to stage her show as criticism of the traditional runway format. “I had this feeling of having so many eyes on me and commodifying my craft: that felt so weird,” said Whalen, “I’m very critical of it, but then this community of people that I found was so supportive and made me realize that I love this, and I love what I do, and that it’s important that I keep doing it.” After her show, Whalen said, she realized that rather than a critique, she had staged a ritual, a return to the core of what the fashion show is: “A procession.”