Imitation of Christ opened LA Fashion Week with a performance at The Hole Gallery in Hollywood. There, representatives from five faiths gave blessings as models moved to choreography by designer Tara Subkoff and dancer Lauren Cannon. Removing the barrier between backstage and front of house, studio and public space, styling and clothing making took place simultaneously in the open air. The designer continued her practice of collaborating with young creatives, this time including Nolan Gross, Izzy Huynh, Ellen Jong, Tiffany Nguyen, Rose Ponizil, Hudson Schaetzke, Nik Van Dalen and Galen Womack. “It went well and the audience/guests/press present seemed genuinely moved and appreciated this experience and the piece. We finally opened it up so everyone could join in there and dance/pray/watch/be…and join in,” Subkoff wrote in a note after the show. “I think that part was the best, putting it together. I so wish the world could join in instead of separating, blaming and killing. The news breaks our hearts every day.”
Since its founding as an art collective in 2000, Imitation of Christ has always worked in two opposite directions simultaneously, destroying established systems and bringing materials back to life. “It’s a trifecta, it’s a triple threat: environmentalism, art and fashion,” the brand’s Subkoff said during a phone call. This season, a fourth element was added to the request for peace. The designer’s goal was to use her platform “to show an example of tolerance and peaceful acceptance. If we can show examples of this,” she continued, “and reverberate that and expand outward and have other people imitate this and do this, I really hope we can help.”
This is not the first time Subkoff has played with the idea of simultaneity (see Spring 2021) or introduced religious elements into her work; a Tibetan monk participated in the spring 2022 presentation, and the brand’s first show in New York for spring 2001 took place at a funeral home. This collection, like many for spring 2024, featured many cloaked looks. At the IOC, specific reference was made to that early performance seen from a distance of decades. “I’ll start with a little ode to the funeral show, but I really feel like it’s a time of mourning, and I also feel different than I did when I was 26,” Subkoff said. Having survived a brain tumor, the designer describes herself as someone who is on a spiritual path. “I really feel like even if you have a child on this planet, it’s so important to have hope. And it is so important to inspire that hope in each other. For me it can’t be a gothic moment where it’s just nihilistic. The number of light and brightly colored looks was indeed much greater than that of black ones. Stylist B. Akerlund added floral accents as ‘an infusion of vitality’.
