5000 FW25 ‘Bootsy’: A Sartorial Quirk
Designer Taylor Thompson refined the unpolished through an invitation to take ownership of individuality.
Image Courtesy of 5000 and Lindsey Media
For their second round at NYFW, 5000 encapsulated the audience under a grey sky inside the glass bubble of the greenhouse at Nine Orchard. Here, designer Taylor Thompson created a parade of the seemingly uncool through his take on the Oakland-rooted term “Bootsy.” Or Bootsie. Or Bootsee.
5000’s ode to “bootsiness” comes from exploring all the contradictory meanings of the word itself and presenting it as a social study to elevate and intellectualize the expression. Thompson takes from the 1990s Bay Area cultural scene where “Bootsy” represented something out of touch, unfit, “a critique of anything failing to meet local standards of style or authenticity”. But he also links it to the bold, eccentric, campy, and genuine. This premise of having something played out, weird, or sluggish and turning it into a “cultural artifact” did wonders in 5000’s runway debut collection.
Preceded by his presentation last September (the one at the cemetery with punk, sun, and umbrellas), one could easily confirm 5000’s sartorial taste. And yes, the tailoring in the suits was meticulous, and that pleating in the capes-turned-trains was impeccable and somehow ethereal.
Image Courtesy of 5000 and Lindsey Media
But then it almost felt like a game to scan and find the quirks that had been carefully (and playfully) incorporated into the looks. On a full scale of greys, blacks, browns, whites, and various pops of red, there were some blazer-on-blazer doubles and some interesting one-sided draping in three-quarter-length coats. Slim ties were hidden inside the structure of white shirts, flowy satin blouses were turned backwards, and sleeveless jackets were backward-buttoned, too.
The pompous pleat on the sleeve of a shirt “got caught” in a model's ear, and one leg of a suit pant “got trapped” in a cowboy boot. Through styling, even Muji notepads and stationery/cotillion-bag-like tie ribbons officially got an upgrade in the accessory realm. The music by Jess Makhlin (aka Mishka) also played its part in the transformation via a selection of Bay Area Soundscapes that wrapped laziness with energetic city pulses.
What seemed distracted turned into chicness. The uncool grew neat. 5000 just offered a sartorial game that gave refinement to the unpolished and made an invitation to embrace our peculiarities and own our individuality. Fun and “Hella Bootsy” indeed.
