“I took an emotional approach to the theme,” Rogers tells Vogue.
Gossip Girl’s Jordan Alexander and Christopher John Rogers On Making Their “Adventurous” Met Gala Debut Together
King of Crayola Pantones Christopher John Rogers’s Met Gala debut was always going to be Technicolor. But his first trip up the museum’s famous staircase – with fellow Met debutante Jordan Alexander – was a volte-face from his usual explosive old-school salon sensibility. Instead of voluminous silhouettes, the Louisiana-born designer took up space on the red carpet with his subtle statement on what American fashion looks like right now, and where it can go in the future.
“I took a more emotional approach to the theme,” says an excited and nervous Rogers of this year’s dress code, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. “I thought there would be enough stars and stripes and denim; this look hopefully shows that American designers have their own references and point of views to pull from. There’s not one way US fashion can look.”
Read more: Met Gala 2021 Red Carpet
In lieu of his riotous ballgowns, beloved by Lady Gaga and Zendaya, Rogers stripped things back, using the iconic Venus de Milo silhouette as a starting point. “We’re known for big volume, so we were interested in deflating it and wrapping the material around the body,” he explains of what went down in his small studio of four. After “a bunch of toiles”, they settled on a nude bustier top, reminiscent of a vintage undergarment, and a dramatic draped color-block skirt. “We wanted to embrace people’s expectations, but to push the conversation forward. It’s one of my favorite things about fashion: pushing the visual lexicon while staying true to who we are,” shares one of New York’s brightest exports.
This story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Alice Newbold
