Chromat is always a sexy time.
When you break down the numbers of all the model appearances, not just the postergirls who make the news, Chromat is the most multicultural, size-diverse, gender-diverse show in the biz. It’s our best show because the show is the quickest way to put everyone in a good mood, and the spectacle really serves up images that last. They’re highly spreadable because they forward a radical agenda – that women with larger thighs than you’re used to seeing deserve sexual attention and they deserve to walk tall. (The fact that the groundbreaking images STILL circulate which is what makes what Chromat does best so important. That’s how embarrassing high fashion runway shows still are.)
Beyond that, Chromat never skimps on the design and there’s so much sculptural, and functional deliciousness. Just assume we want a Chromat show to happen at soirees everywhere to raise awareness that these women, and the women watching are dripping with sex appeal, okay?
As Chromat babe Denise Bidot, who was the first curvy woman to open their show told us, “We showed them, that there’s nothing wrong with us. We didn’t realize it was going to huge statement. It was organic. It wasn’t gimmick.”
It’s all a heart-pumping performance, and then scene. These are all things that demand to be showcased—and gushed about, but we’re left without any truly wearable outfits.
We’re on board with all of it. We are SO DOWN with the light-up boobs. We salute you if you wear a bathing suit version of a dominatrix getup to work, but who desperately NEEDS a head cage or five? Chromat references couture, and they’re ideal for all the music videos we see these looks in, but even the tan lines we’d get in this stuff would be somewhat impractical. Bottom line – women deserve designers who will show up and join this inclusive Chromat party with non rave-wear stuff we can wear to the office.
You could argue that a stunning robe dress or a delectable sweater wouldn’t make as much of a splash as Chromat’s webby lattices, leather harnesses, and head masks—but when most threads still don’t go above a size 12, WOULDN’T THEY IF YOU PUT ON A SEXY, FORWARD-THINKING SHOW?
Chromat’s clothes are party clothes for party people. Becca McCharen’s brand is not bandwagon kink either. This is a woman who made these for subculture-y events. These were custom made clothes born for crowds who we imagine had warehouse parties sponsored by Ritalin, where people wear O.T.T. outfits as iconography. She never thought it would turn into an actual line of clothing, and then they never thought the runway shows would be as buzzy as they were—just by doing people justice and showing different kinds of folks. But in a sea of exclusionary shows, it stands out. Way out.
Increasingly, things that actually will sell and have mass appeal is the best tack in fashion, and Chromat certainly sells to real people. Hell they sell harnesses to a pregnant woman, and they’re not trying to be your basic uniform. It’s why we need to see wearable, practical pieces in a sexy inclusive show yesterday.
