After 5 years away from the New York Vogue Week calendar, Christopher John Rogers is again—and he didn’t simply return; he arrived. With Assortment 015: Exhale, the designer reminds us why he’s one of the crucial exhilarating forces in American style, delivering a group that blends audacity, pleasure and defiance with the precision of a jazz solo. Rogers has at all times been about colour, quantity and storytelling, and this season, his narrative is crystal clear: in a world that tries to shrink you, dare to develop.
Within the Black group, we’ve lengthy understood the ability of taking over area, whether or not it’s by means of fashion, speech or sheer presence. From the best way Diahann Carroll glided throughout the display screen in Julia, commanding consideration with grace and tailor-made perfection, to the daring, futuristic silhouettes of Grace Jones, Black fashion has at all times been a riot towards invisibility. Rogers faucets into that lineage with items that steadiness construction and fluidity—matte cotton piqués and twills meet luminous silks, providing a wardrobe that’s as dynamic because the individuals who put on it. His capacity to weave in references from artists like Angela de la Cruz and Hélio Oiticica solely deepens the message: that is style as resistance, as pleasure, as self-ownership.
However let’s speak about the true feat right here. The style trade hasn’t precisely made it straightforward for impartial designers—particularly Black ones—to thrive. But Rogers, just like the icons earlier than him, refuses to be boxed in. Exhale is a celebration of survival, of reinvention and of sartorial fantasy in a world that always calls for actuality. And in true CJR style, it’s not nearly garments; it’s a love letter to those that dare to be their fullest selves, regardless of the circumstances.
