After ruffling some feathers last season with a wigged and costumed literary salon reconsidering racist heroine of the Confederate South Scarlett O’Hara as a proto-feminist, designer Elena Velez got back to business with her spring 2025 runway show — designing and selling clothes.
“I’m trying to work in a message that is more galvanizing and aspirational and consolidating than disparate and divisive,” she said during a preview at her new Garment District studio, admitting she got dragged a lot for the last show. “People think that the brand is very hostile and very aggressive, but I don’t really relate to that. I’m just a goth emo girl.”
Cue this season’s aspirational, universal female icons, icons of the people — Joan of Arc, Marianne from “Liberty Leading the People,” Lady Columbia and the Statue of Liberty. These were light references alongside kitschy pop culture figures like the pageant queen, cheerleader and western saloon characters, that played out on the runway in cowboy hats, tiaras and sashes. Then, a remarkable finale had a model hoisting the train of her black star-spangled gown on a flagpole and carrying the flag high.
More than just rabble rousing pageantry, Velez laid out a commercial vision on an all-gendered cast in leather and lace, with a great-looking glossy black leather jacket with prize ribbon shoulder trim, superbly sculpted perforated leather corset dresses and sexy twisted tailoring that were all rock star ready. She also carried her signature corsetry details onto a white darted trenchcoat, a green work shirt and work pants with trucker vibes, and added frilly cotton tanks and bloomers, denim and bodysuits to accessible daywear options.
The New York designer, who originally hails from Milwaukee, Wis., recently accepted a global sales deal with the Vald Agency showroom that represents Henrik Vibskov and Viktor and Rolf, among others. “They have a clientele that’s familiar with the theatricality that we bring,” said Velez, who is currently selling to Browns, Farfetch, Ssense and H. Lorenzo, among others.
She’s also looking for collaboration opportunities. Uggs made the cool, chunky heeled tall sheepskin boots for the runway show, but there is not an official collection in the works yet. Velez is also interested in Dickies and Carhartt, which have a big presence in the Midwest, the spiritual center of her brand.
In the meantime, Velez, who has been outspoken about the financial challenges of being an emerging designer and critical of the snobbishness of the fashion industry, is working on her diplomatic sensibilities — to a point. “This is a punk brand. It is loud. It is accommodating to all sorts of people from all sorts of different creative cultural perspectives. And I like that about us. It’s not for everyone, and that’s OK.”
