Maison the Faux is fabulously phony. “We mock and we love fashion at the same time,” said designers, Joris Suk and Tessa de Boer of their Dutch by way of New York City (with a pit stop in China) fashion line. After all, the rough French to English translation of Maison the Faux is quite literally, House of the Fake. Now please, don’t for a second be misled to take that as an insult. “Faux” is a term as endearing and enlightening as a man in thigh high latex heels and a devilish grin, make-up painted on his face, stomping down the avenues of Madison and Fifth, counterfeit Gucci bag in hand, doused in half a bottle of Chanel No.5. The stone-cold definition of not giving a fuck (gracefully, of course). Precisely why you should and after this article you will at the very least, have your curiosity profoundly peaked. (I hope).
The gender non-conforming collective of “human wear” makers poopoos the notion of narrow- minded blue is for boys and pink is for girls thinking. In fact, they side eye anything with a semblance of old guard convention. “Maison the Faux and her collections are socially committed to always having a certain amount of actuality to them,” said the designers. In layman’s terms, Faux’s bottom line— to sell you that very elusive thing you crave, liberté. One season in Paris, they staged a guerilla fashion show during fashion week outside of the tents. Models stepped out of the back of a rented truck in the house’s lewks and shortly thereafter filed back in, and abruptly left. Leaving showgoers awestruck. (A concept they had first implemented in their “ANNAANNA-ANNAANNA” collection during Future Generation at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Amsterdam). Faux is designed for Main street.
Recently the studio took their brand of zany, East. Earlier this month, they presented an interpretation of their boundary-be-damned “Chubby Chaser” collection at the inaugural Guangzhou Fashion Week in China. Where Joris and Tessa, strutted home with a “Global Original Designer Innovation” award from the Guangzhou Fashion Week Committee. “The brand was very well received. It is surely unique and different from any other brands we or any other agency brought to fashion week. The Asian market, specifically the Chinese market, is very open-minded. Young people are now very proud to wear something unique, something that their friends don’t have. We wanted to bring Guangzhou Fashion Week something they’ve never seen before,” said Sam Shusen GUO, Founder of Elite Edge, a Beijing-based digital marketing and consultancy agency, specializing in connecting Western brands to the Chinese market.
“They are without a doubt one of the top brands to follow right now,” said Nay Campbell brand model and New York nightlife socialite. “Not only are their clothes very contemporary, but they have a really modern approach to how they formulate their shows every season. From casting to hair and makeup, they always incorporate odd but really exciting themes for their presentations.” The Faux-ettes, (I just coined the term) a global community that stretches across oceans, disciplines, and gender mores, are a largely based crew of New York City nightlife influencers, who serve as models and muses for the look books and the catwalk, and star in the brand’s ad campaigns. “I’ve been working with Maison the Faux for the past two fashion weeks. Since the moment I met them, it was instant chemistry. They taught me how to walk in heels!” said Dez Sam, model, stylist, writer and founder of Anti-Renaissance , a New York City-based queer art collective. “They’re about creating conversation and formulating new ideas, meanwhile shoving ‘normality’ out the window. I take comfort in eccentricity. I like to make people talk,” said Anaury Peña a fellow gender non-conforming Faux-ette. “New York is a capital that embraces new ideas and aesthetics. We think that’s where we really fit in and where the audience is always very receptive. It’s our favorite city so far,” said the forward-thinking creative duo.
And from across the pond, their cinematographer extraordinaire, Robert Fox, and Guangzhou Fashion Week companion, the man responsible for Maison’s latest ad campaign for Faux Cosmetics, a three part series of commercials debuting a bourgeois-cum-satirical line of lipsticks, and their actual latest line of clothing, also praises the brand, “It’s been a gift for me to work with a label that works so playfully with strong concepts, satire and self-expression as it’s in my nature to do the same.” Fox goes on to say, “The Faux Cosmetics video campaign was our first project together and I was immediately given the trust to incorporate my spin onto a concept I naturally felt resonance with. I followed the team during New York Fashion Week like a pesky insect, documenting whatever I could at all times with the intention to mash everything together to the beat of hardcore music, finessed with vague narrative and an infomercial-esque monolog.” Be on the lookout for Fox’s second installment for the house, from his recent Guangzhou Fashion Week outing which is being made into a film, entitled, This Is Not An Office. It will be released later this year.
If you’re not intrigued by now, welp, I’m fresh out of ideas, but it looks like Joris Suk and Tessa de Boer, the masterminds behind Maison the Faux, are just getting started. In their sites bio, they reference plans to open a brick and mortar store in Beirut, launch a “human scented” perfume line, release an album and start a reality TV show. I’m very excited to see what’s next. Honestly, they had me at hello. Can you hear me?