If you think fashion week is all glamour and glitz, Elena Velez wants you to reconsider. In a subversive twist that had attendees whispering, Velez staged her latest fashion show on a mud-filled runway in a Bushwick warehouse. It was the mud fight heard ’round the fashion world—or at least that was the rumor. In reality, Velez presented an evocative spectacle that was as much about making us uncomfortable as it was about fashion.
Mud was indeed present, but it was the models, not the guests, who navigated the slippery terrain. Adorned in everything from Nike slides to kitten-heel slingbacks, the models closed the show with an actual mud fight. Mud-splattering aside, the garments were the stars here: zip-up bustiers, unconventional corsets, and jackets with inside-out seams that you’d want in your closet ASAP. It was gritty, it was edgy, and it was entirely Velez.
Velez doesn’t just court controversy; she revels in it. She made waves recently by announcing models would be paid in trade and exposure, sparking a Twitter storm that could’ve sunk a lesser designer. But for Velez, the uproar was a backdrop to a larger question: who holds the mirror to the fashion industry?
In her press notes, Velez posits the need for more “antiheroines,” calling out the narrow representation of women in popular culture. Her clothes embody the complexities of womanhood—equally soft and rugged, kind and aggressive. She questions why society is quick to limit the roles women can occupy, all while openly embracing her own role as fashion’s current villainess.
This season, Velez seemed more focused on provoking questions than providing answers. But hey, fashion is all about the intrigue, and Elena Velez is a designer who knows how to keep us talking. How long we’ll watch her play the villain is yet to be seen, but for now, we can’t look away. So, forget what you think you know about fashion shows. Elena Velez is rewriting the script, one mud fight at a time.
