Zaldy On His NYFW Menswear Collection

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The legendary Zaldy is showing at NYFW for the first time in ages but with a new twist! He’ll be showing the debut of his new men’s collection at the Hotel Chelsea on Sunday night, a venue that’s near and dear to his heart. He tells us what inspired him to get into menswear and who he’d still love to dress! 

What can we expect from your NYFW collection this season?
When I was first designing my women’s collections in the 2000s, I always imagined I would do a men’s collection once women’s was operating beautifully.…Of course, things don’t always go as planned, and my career shifted more toward costume in the subsequent decade! I designed for the most iconic male performers, like Michael Jackson, but most of my work was with female artists—Gaga, Katy Perry, and of course, the legendary RuPaul! I always thought I would return to fashion, but didn’t know it would be for menswear.

What drove you to venture into menswear?
It was twofold: One, my growing frustration with finding clothes that I wanted to buy and wear, and two, the desire to present something that was purely from my point of view. It’s a collection for me and my friends, which is why I titled it “…boys like me.” Expect a mix of extravagant details while employing traditional handwork techniques, alongside classic men’s tailoring and shirt making, seamlessly blending with harder, modern elements, like leather, and honoring gay iconographic imagery of male sexual energy and beauty, drawing from artists formative to my early years, like James Bidgood, Dick Higgins, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Kenneth Anger, and Leigh Bowery.

Why did you choose Hotel Chelsea as the location?
It’s a storied venue with a rich personal history for me, alongside many icons of music and cultural demimonde. I used to live at Hotel Chelsea for 20 years, and it’s where I created all eight of my women’s collections. So for me, there was no other venue I wanted to show at. Kelly Cutrone at People’s Revolution is handling the PR.

What do you love about showing your work in person? Do you ever get nervous?
I still think the best way to present a fashion collection is live, with all senses turned on, experiencing something together in one moment at the same time! Seeing and feeling the fabrications and the mood is something you can’t quite replicate on film. I have a way of turning my inner nervousness into calm. I know that there’s no turning back and the show is going on, so I feel free to let it just happen!

You’ve been to lots of fashion shows over time. What’s your favorite NYFW memory?
I have two amazing memories, one is from my own fourth women’s collection, where my dear friends Rufus Wainwright and Anohni wrote the soundtrack and performed it live! And taking my bows with model Jamie Bochert! The second was at a Todd Oldham show; he used to do the most exciting shows. For one of them, I remember Kristen McMenamy walking down the runway with a purse and then just tossing it out into the audience as she walked. It was so brash and punk rock and exciting!

You’ve dressed some of the biggest legends. Any artists you’d still love to dress?
There are so many artists I would love to dress, and so many men who really love fashion and know how to wear it, like Jacob Elordi, Timothée Chalamet, Troye Sivan, and Romeo Beckham. I haven’t worked with Dua Lipa, Doechii, or Miley Cyrus yet. Oh, and I’m obsessed with Mia Goth!