Review of Who Decides War Fall 2023 Men’s Fashion Show
For Our Guardian Angels
By Obi Anyanwu
Alicia Keys opens the song ‘City of Gods’ by Fivio Foreign and Kanye West pleading for New York City to go easy on her. “New York City, please go easy on this heart of mine.”
An ice sculpture of the New York City skyline with angel wings sat in the center of the room for guests to analyze before they took their seats.
The track feels like a fitting anthem for the Who Decides War Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Though the song wasn’t used in the show at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in the Lower East Side—the brand opted for jazz and R&B songs for arriving attendees before playing a medley of instrumentals for some iconic New York City rap songs—the song has a few degrees of separation to brand co-founders Ev Bravado and Tela Damore.
For one, drill rapper Fivio Foreign was close friends with late rap artist Pop Smoke, who was friends with the duo. On the flip side, Kanye West worked closely with the late Virgil Abloh who also worked closely with Ev on Off-White. A few of Abloh’s closest fashion cohorts were also in attendance too, specifically Heron Preston, who presented his collection on Saturday, and design duo Bstroy.
But the connections don’t hold much significance when you see the collection. An ice sculpture of the New York City skyline with angel wings sat in the center of the room for guests to analyze before they took their seats.
The religious themes found in the brand continued in this collection on down parkas, long coats and extravagant destroyed and mended denim jeans. The stained-glass window design shape was pushed heavily on outerwear as 3D pockets and on a slew of bags that appeared in the show. Gives an idea of where the business is focused and heading towards.
The show felt like a nod to the brand’s friends that aren’t with us but shining down with good favor.
Ev and Tela made their collection an ode to New York City, and the angel wings on the centerpiece remind us of the guardian angels that watch over the Big Apple and protect as many as they can from harms way, hangers on and predators looking for a quick buck and someone to scam instead of building community.
The audience was undoubtedly a small selection of the Who Decides War community that could make it and fit into the venue. But the show felt like a nod to the brand’s friends that aren’t with us but shining down with good favor.
