Amid bows, vows and (snazzy!) crowds — JordanLuca’s Jordan Bowen and Luca Marchetto tied the knot during their Milan’s AW25 show.
What a difference a show can make. Sure, JordanLuca is idiosyncratic enough to distinguish itself from most other labels today. Jordan Bowen and Luca Marchetto are a pair of unconventional magpies (in the best sense), plucking inspiration from downtown culture and togetherness for AW25, and turning out clothes tough, catchy and streetwear-tinged.
But their last offering was multi-dimensional, leaning heavily on garment construction as it did with emotion-led gumption. And what a gumption they both had, as Fall found the designers diversifying their offerings as far as shapes and fabrications were concerned. However, there’s more to the story.
“We started this collection in August, and we kept thinking how we could conceive a message of love,” Bowen and Marchetto opined ahead of their show. “I think this is what the world and the fashion industry needs, same as everybody. We need less clothes and more love.”
One evening, Luca was watching television and Jordan was chopping onions while preparing dinner, and he went up to his partner with a knife, asking: “Why don’t we get married for the show?” He said yes, without second thoughts.
“Back then, lots of people started asking us if it’ll be a provocation, but I don’t think it is,” they said, expressing that “we’ve known each other for 16 years, and I think it’s the right time for us: I think it’s very weird and confident after so long to get this done, and even when we throw our vows we don’t want to promise anything to each other, but only giving a message of love,” they said, chuckling.
“And, you know, I think it’s what we need because we have a platform, like Milan Fashion Week, that is so important; a place where we can amplify a message, and we wanted to take the opportunity to do this.”
The effect? On the clothing side, it was youthful but not unyieldingly so. That omnipresent grotesque edge kept things in check. “The collection is made with the best of the pieces we’ve always loved, and the great thing about it is that we had to bring our family to see the show, our aunties, best friends who we suggested to walk in them.” It’s a traditional marriage mixed into fashion, which—as the designers note—”is our life, who we are, and it’s very real.”
“In terms of key pieces, we have an amazing treatment used for suiting, and some dresses are stitched with what we call invisible embroidery,” noted Bowen. Large parts of these offerings have been developed with an all-over embroidery technique, and they asked the factory to not use any thread. Other standouts comprise a cashmere blanket transforming into trousers, a duffle coat with 3D-printed cobbles, and a wrap skirt developed in new velvet.
It was the kind of effort that left you, if not gobsmacked by the moment, keen to see what next season will bring.
by Chidozie Obasi