PROJECT Nº 5
"BLOODSHED"
Fall Winter 2020 Runway presentation + Social Practice experiment
January 8-9, 2020, Palazzo Corsini, Florence
Following our successful Paris debut, we were invited to be the guest designers for the 57th annual presentation of prestigious Florentine menswear platform Pitti Uomo. Having designed our most ambitious collection to date for Fall Winter 2020, we wanted a show that would act as a thesis to the unique hybrid of collaboration and social practice we had developed over the years.
We wanted to mobilize what is truly unique about our project, things which lie outside the realm of stage-craft; things money can’t buy: the kinship, risk and trust; struggle and love that we share with our collaborators and public. Our self-imposed challenge was to in no way prepare or plan for our runway show — but instead focus our energy on the night before — where we had invited 40 of the brightest talents of our generation to spend the night with us at the magnificent, Palazzo Corsini for 24 hrs of collective creativity and community.
We had a sixteen course meal prepared by the queer cooking collective Spiral Theory test kitchen which created a structure around the evening. It was served on purpose built table in the shape of a ring, 25 feet in diameter. Each place setting at the table was equipped with a com-system as seen at the UN, and a circular stairway descended from the center of the table into a orchestra-cum-conversation pit with instruments ready.
In attendance were renowned film makers like Khalil Joseph and Terrence Nance; musicians including Solange, Standing on the Corner, Kelela, Carrie Stacks, Hawa, Klein, Hirakish; artists including Sophia Al Maria, Wu Tsang, Boy Child; Elliot Jerome Browne and Precious Okoyomon and dozens more. No one was given instruction or under obligation to perform. The uncanny and seamless presentation which took place the next day, like the dirty plates and wineglasses which covered the table-cum-runway, was the result and residue of a true act of magic.
