Unlock the gates to a visionary narrative as Drink.More.Water unveils the pinnacle of their creative expression – the transcendental Szn 6 collection, bearing the captivating appellation “Metropolis: Or The End Of History.” This opulent assortment rises as a testament to the immersive world of utopian architecture and design, a harmonious fusion of artistry and societal relevance. Embracing the revolutionary legacies of architectural luminaries such as Vladimir Tatlin, Le Corbusier, Buckminster Fuller, and Robert Moses, this season transcends the ordinary confines of fashion, offering a profound narrative on the transformative power of design.
At its core, the Szn 6 collection delves into the profound ethos that design is more than mere aesthetics; it is a catalyst for societal metamorphosis and a beacon of hope in a world yearning for change. Peeling back the layers of civilization, it illuminates the sacrifices and systemic workings of empires, juxtaposing the stark grandeur of utopian edifices with the innate human spirit that survives against all odds.
The forthcoming lookbook for Szn 6, meticulously curated for its unveiling on June 22nd, embodies an ethereal visual symphony meticulously orchestrated by the masterful lens of acclaimed photographer Marcus Maddox. Drawing inspiration from the emotive opus of Eugene Delacroix’s “The Raft of the Medusa,” an emblem of endurance and human resilience, this visual rendition juxtaposes the poignant backdrop of human survival against the backdrop of austere utopian structures that echo throughout the collection’s prints.
In the exquisite tapestry of Szn 6, Drink.More.Water presents a harmonious fusion of maximalist prints and sensuous silhouettes, each ensemble a captivating ode to audacity and sophistication. These bold creations stand as veritable works of art – a mesmerizing ensemble destined to captivate hearts and minds, ideal for those seeking to exude an air of magisterial elegance under the night sky. Established in the vibrant crucible of New York City by the enigmatic luminary Young Warhol in 2018, Drink.More.Water transcends conventional labels, serving as a beacon of artistic innovation, a bastion of cultural convergence, and a testament to unbridled creative expression. Its avant-garde ensembles grace the shelves of prestigious emporiums like Retail Pharmacy, bleaq, Wolf & Badger, and Bowery Showroom across the cosmopolitan diaspora of NYC and London, leaving an indelible mark on the sartorial panorama.
The brand’s storied past is woven with the silken threads of five mesmerizing collections, four spellbinding runway exhibitions, and a myriad of musical events that have left audiences enraptured. Renowned for their collaborations with luminaries such as Uffie, Model/Actriz, Harmony Tividad, and numerous other visionaries, Drink.More.Water has emerged as the paragon of the NYC indie scene, etching its legacy as a harbinger of cultural revolution and artistic insurrection.
As a vanguard of creativity and trailblazer of self-expression, Drink.More.Water continues to shatter boundaries, rewriting the lexicon of artistic norms with each audacious endeavor. Immerse yourself in a boundless realm of artistic potential with Drink.More.Water – a tapestry of inspiration, resilience, and unwavering passion that blazes a luminous trail through the realms of avant-garde expression.
Embark on a transcendent odyssey with Drink.More.Water, where every creation whispers a tale of ingenuity, tenacity, and unbridled creativity in the grand tapestry of fashion’s ever-evolving narrative. Step into the realm of the extraordinary; where the boundaries of innovation are blurred, and the pulsating heartbeat of artistic vibrancy echoes eternally through our exclusive interview with Young Warhol for Fucking Young:
Delving into the core of Drink.More.Water‘s philosophy, how does the brand balance its small-scale artistic vision with the ambition to resonate on a broader scale, connecting with both niche indie circles and a more widespread audience?
Our MO has always been making what we want to make and just hoping that people resonate with it, which luckily a growing group of people have. We’ve never tried to make some grand artistic statement like “this is what I think fashion should be, this is how everyone should dress” because that’s not what clothing is about. We just like doing what we’re doing and people have been nice enough to want to come along for the ride. In terms of the project’s ambitions, I wouldn’t say I necessarily want to build some giant empire, I think it’s always gonna be a niche project for a certain type of creatively minded individual and what I think the expansion has allowed us to do is to find more of these people beyond just our immediate social circle of downtown NYC creatives.
As Drink.More.Water amplifies sensuality through its statement pieces, could you elaborate on how the brand ensures that this allure remains inclusive and resonates with diverse wearers from different walks of life and artistic backgrounds?
Basically I want people to look good and feel good wearing our clothes. I want our clothes to look hot on people. There’s some tweet from a while back that I reference all the time that’s like “really hating the new fashion trend of ‘are you skinny enough to look hot in the ugliest clothing possible?’ which I think was really indicative of Balenciaga’s stranglehold on trends and the industry these past few years. Fashion should be beautiful, it should make you feel like a million bucks when you step out. In terms of appealing to different types of people, I’ve always tried to never pander to any one specific demographic; it’s always been let’s just make what we want to make and if people like it then awesome. I don’t think there’s one specific type of person who’s a Drink.More.Water fan, and while our stuff is always going to be relatively niche, I’d never want it to be exclusive per se. DMW is for anyone that wants it.
Regarding Drink.More.Water‘s strategic placement in boutiques across major fashion hubs like NYC, London, Berlin, and Verona, how does the brand preserve its indie ethos while navigating the dynamic landscapes of these global fashion cities?
Really I think it’s about finding like-minded people all over the world that see what we’re doing and vibe with it despite the cultural differences. I mean we’re a downtown NYC brand through and through. We’re based here, our clothing is made here, and we mostly work with local artists. All of the attention and hype that we’ve gotten is 100% due to our place within this wonderful indie creative community that we’re blessed to be a part of. So obviously we want to keep growing and expanding the business but that growth doesn’t have to come at the cost of losing our identity. Whether it’s NYC, London, Berlin, or wherever, there’s a community like ours of creatives who have the same DIY ethos of just wanting to make cool shit happen. For all the bad parts of the internet and social media it’s really cool to be able to use it to discover groups and people like bleaq in London, Studio183 in Berlin, Moodart in Verona, and more.
Also a main way we stay tethered to who we are is the focus on live events and the irl community. Obviously social media is always going to play a major role like it or not, but our brand stays anchored by the live music shows, pop ups, and runway shows that we regularly throw. These have mostly been in NYC but we’ve started to expand, hosting events in LA and recently Austin for SXSW. We’ve got big plans for the fall to do a mini Euro tour in London, Paris, Berlin, and more taking the party on the road and bringing our world to you, wherever that may be.
Within the conceptual framework of the Szn 6 collection, “Metropolis: Or The End Of History,” could you provide further insights into how Drink.More.Water seamlessly blends the ideals of utopian architecture with the brand’s signature aesthetic, creating a harmonious dialogue between art and fashion?
Art is and probably always will be the greatest influence on the brand. I was an art history major in college and grew up going to museums and galleries with my family which I hated at the time as a bratty kid but now am so grateful for the experience of. While the collections generally start out with conceptual themes, the visual language usually ends up getting translated via distinct artistic styles. So for the love story of Szn 4, Impressionism was a big feature, and for last year’s Szn 5 the story of a fallen angel we went with art from Dante’s Inferno and Paradise Lost. Obviously the themes and narratives change each season but the maximalist, print-heavy approach remains in each collection, and that’s no different this year with the focus on utopian architecture and the concept of the metropolis.
Unpacking the thematic underpinnings of “Metropolis: Or The End Of History,” how does the collection navigate the complexities of design’s potential to bring about transformative societal change while scrutinizing the ethical implications of architectural pursuits that may compromise human essence? Could you delve deeper into how Drink.More.Water conveys the stark consequences of forsaking humanity in the pursuit of architectural grandeur and societal sustainability, drawing inspiration from the works and ideologies of celebrated architects like Vladimir Tatlin and Le Corbusier?
While designing this collection as the world crumbles around us, I found myself drawn back to the ideas of utopian architecture that I studied in college as an art history major. At a time when almost everyone in power seems to just accept our further slide into the world getting worse and worse, it’s startling to think about a time when there were these grand ideas of how to fix the world’s problems via design. You had these thinkers like Le Courbusier, Buckminster Fuller, Frank Lloyd Wright, Robert Moses, and the Soviet constructivists like Vladimir Tatlin who saw design not just as a thing of beauty but as a way to truly solve society’s problems via these grand projects, whether they were Tatlin’s Tower, the Plan Voisin, the Manhattan dome, and more. They were strikingly ambitious in a way that seems admirable today in a society marked by the general malaise of decline. However one thing most of these projects shared was how sterile and stripped of humanity they all were. Le Corbusier proposed razing all of downtown Paris to build giant megatowers because he thought they would be more efficient. In almost all of his writing there’s a striking lack of any mention of people, who you’d assume would supposedly be the ones to benefit from these grand projects. Robert Moses didn’t just have theories, he really did tear down entire neighborhoods just to ram highways through them. In so many of these cases there’s an overwhelming sense of being so sure of their genius and sense of progress that the creators just completely lost sight of their humanity and who all this “progress” was supposed to benefit anyways.
How does the Szn 6 collection ingeniously blend the raw emotional intensity portrayed in Théodore Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” with the sleek and sterile representation of utopian architecture, effectively juxtaposing human resilience with architectural minimalism in its prints?
So I came to “The Raft of the Medusa” for two main reasons. One, because it’s just an absolutely breathtakingly striking image and one of my favorite paintings ever, and two because to me it was the perfect contrast to the cold, sterile nature of the utopian architecture which is completely stripped of humanity. “The Raft of the Medusa”, on the other hand, is ALL humanity and little else. It was controversial upon its release in 1819 as it’s done on the scale of an epic historical painting, but it doesn’t depict a Biblical scene or heroic battle as was the standard for such works. Instead, it’s a collection of anonymous, unremarkable individuals, no victorious kings or war heroes, all united in the raw human need to survive. Not to mention the closest thing the work has to a “hero” is the anonymous African crew member raising his arm, a bold stance of abolitionist principles by the young Géricault at a time when slavery still existed in brutal form in the French colonies. The work’s subjects aren’t doing anything necessarily brave or honorable, they’re just engaging the basic human need to survive. So I thought that sentiment worked really well to contrast these grand, ambitious images that formed the backbone of the collection’s visual language. On one hand you have an unceasing push towards progress at the cost of forgetting one’s own humanity; on the other hand you have people clinging to their humanity as it’s the only thing they have left. I thought that created a really interesting dynamic. Plus it just looks really fucking cool ahaha.
With the forthcoming lookbook shoot on June 22nd masterminded by renowned photographer Marcus Maddox, could you shed light on how Drink.More.Water aims to encapsulate the powerful narrative of survival and human spirit within the ethereal framework of austere architectural backdrops?
I’ve worked with a lot of really wonderful photographers over the years who have all shot some incredible things for Drink.More.Water and I’ve always admired Marcus Maddox’s work so much. He’s someone I think will be a generational artist and that I’ve called the modern day Robert Mapplethorpe without exaggeration. So when he offered to shoot the new collection I jumped at the opportunity. Marcus does such an incredible job at shooting these grand, epic scenes, whether a concert or a packed party, with such a delicate humanity in his approach. He’s shot some works that resemble epic historical paintings, so I thought he’d be perfect for the job and boy did he not disappoint. He’s someone who can capture the scale of a packed scene but with such an attention to detail and it all came together so perfectly.
Offering a deeper glimpse into the creative process, could you elaborate on how Drink.More.Water intricately weaves together the maximalist prints and sensual silhouettes in Szn 6 to craft outfits that not only captivate visually but also evoke a sense of empowerment and individuality? How does Drink.More.Water strike a delicate balance between creating fashion pieces that are attention-grabbing and daring, yet practical and versatile enough to translate from the runway to real-life scenarios, epitomizing the brand’s distinct approach to modern design?
I always say the collections are “top-down” meaning I don’t just design a random piece that I think looks cool, but rather come up with the concept first and then build the collection’s world around this idea, with every piece sharing the same mythology and visual language. So when it comes to turning these prints into articles of clothing, the form has to follow the inspiration, meaning that these are obviously going to be head-turning pieces. Nothing we’ve ever done could ever be called minimalist or conservative that’s for sure. So yeah, I want our pieces to turn heads, I want them to be striking and sexy, I want people to feel empowered putting them on because you’re not wearing a Drink.More.Water piece to blend in. There’s a quote I always come back to in my design work from the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibit on Halston and the Studio 54 era that basically said “Halston made people want to dress up and go out again”. That’s what I’m trying to do. I want our clothes to feel like a pregame with your friends, blasting music as you mix vodka and cranberry juice, texting whoever invited you to the party what the list situation is gonna be. I want you to walk up to the door of a club knowing 20 people are gonna ask you where you got your dress or your suit. That is the essence of what it means to be a Drink.More.Water piece.
Reflecting on the essence of Drink.More.Water as a trailblazing force within the indie fashion landscape, could you elaborate on how the Szn 6 collection serves as a culmination of the brand’s narrative and artistic evolution, solidifying its status as a beacon of creativity and innovation?
Drink.More.Water has been around for more than five years now, but we really didn’t hit our stride until fall of 2022, when a flurry of artist stylings, namely Blaketheman1000, Shallowhalo, and May Rio, gave us our first initial buzz and really got the name out there beyond my immediate social circle. Since then, styling artists has been a core part of our identity and we’ve gotten to work with some real icons like Uffie, Model/Actriz, Rachel Rabbit White, and more. I see styling artists as the perfect fit for our brand which is naturally loud and bold, the perfect recipe for a head-turning show fit that’s going to be talked about long after the party ends. So in the same way that we’ve leveraged these artist connections towards increased attention, we’ve approached each new season the same way: try to do it a little bigger and better every time. I think this is our best work yet and I’m excited that thanks to some hype we have our largest audience ever to experience it, so I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.
How does Drink.More.Water‘s collaborative ethos with artists and designers play a pivotal role in shaping the brand’s DNA, fostering a continuous exchange of creative energy that propels its designs forward, especially within the intricate tapestry of the Szn 6 collection?
Collaboration is everything to us. Obviously like I said, styling artists is how we’ve gotten basically all our hype over the years but it’s much more than that. Being a small part of the wonderful downtown indie creative scene is so inspiring for stuff we do directly like putting on music shows, collaborating with Forever Mag’s Madeline Cashon merch, throwing parties with DirtyMag, and more. But even beyond that, it’s just so wonderful to be around so many crazy talented people all grinding at their own thing and helping each other out on projects. Everyone wants their friends to succeed and I’m just so blessed to have a hand in some of it. I said in our first magazine interview with AltPress way back in 2022 that I wanted to be the defining brand of our scene, and I don’t know if we’ve necessarily gotten there yet but I’d say we’re definitely on the way.
Looking ahead, what transformative discussions or paradigm shifts does Drink.More.Water hope to spark within the fashion industry through the provocative themes and thought-provoking narratives embedded in “Metropolis: Or The End Of History,” challenging conventions and redefining the boundaries of art and fashion?
Nothing new for this season necessarily, just the same things we’ve been pushing for since our inception: clothing at a reasonable price made well by people paid a living wage. Our brand has been 100% made in NYC since its inception and will always continue to be. Shop local, shop small, support your creative friends by buying their clothes, streaming their music, and just showing up for them. In terms of what we want to do with this project, like I said, just a little bigger and better every year, so to anyone reading this: thanks for coming along for the ride, your support means more than you could ever know.
For more: @drink.more.water.nyc
