Scenes from the weekend’s huge fashion show in Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Marisa Kalil-Barrino

Julia Fox (Madison Voelkel, BFA)

There was a moment over the weekend, not long before Julia Fox strutted down the Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront in head-to-toe leather, that Nas pulled up — in a water taxi — to perform a set from the boat. In the rain.

These were just a couple of highlights from two full days of highlights: runway shows, DJ sets, a marketplace, a film screening, and notable guests filled the park for an event presented by MADE x PayPal honoring fashion, culture, and music.

The two-day affair was the product of the unlikely pairing of PayPal and talent incubator MADE, which aim to celebrate culture, community, and shine a spotlight on emerging designers. The event itself was curated by Public School founders and MADE alums Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne.

“We were looking for designers who could sustain the weight of putting a big show together and having it help their business,” say Chow and Osborne, who are prone to finishing each other’s sentences. “We wanted to help show them a pathway towards new ways for developing and creating more responsibly through upcycling and using deadstock fabrics.”

Brooklyn designer Michael Graham of Savant Studios, for example, collaborated with them on a project called Savant School, in which he pulled from Public School’s deadstock to create five different looks “and tell a story,” he says. “It’s this imaginary academy of the extraordinarily gifted and talented.”

Among his creations was what he called an “Academia” sweater following the academy theme; an oversized hoodie with large shoulder pads to give off an exaggerated silhouette. He plans to release the collection online and in his Bed-Stuy store in about a month. Savant Studios is also releasing their own collection, called Rover Gang, on July 3 with an in-store event.

Savant School (Madison Voelkel, BFA)

The day’s runway show was capped with a dramatic entrance by Nas via water taxi from the East River. As the rain began to fall he rocked attendees with hits including “N.Y. State of Mind,” “If I Ruled the World,” “The World is Yours,” and more.

Nas, ruling the world (Matteo Prandoni, BFA)

On Saturday, MADE’s Class of 2022 emerging New York designers — Bed on Water, K.NGSLEY, and Whensmokeclears — took over the runway

Whensmokeclears’ founders Gil Taveras and Kyle Nelson unveiled a 20-piece spring/summer 2023 collection “1-800-WHENSMOKECLEARS,” which they plan to launch this winter. Taveras, who is Dominican, says the number is a reference to the calling cards that play a huge role in the culture there. So he and Nelson incorporated telecommunications logos, cellphone harnesses, and other materials into their designs to emphasize human connections.

Whensmokeclears (Madison Voelkel, BFA)

“For us to do this show meant a lot for our community,” Nelson says. “We united a lot of people together with Whensmokeclears. We really did it for the city.”

As part of the event, St. Ann’s Warehouse hosted a MADE marketplace where people could shop collabs, exclusive drops, and merch from 16 brands, including Bronx Native; Edas; FUBU; Sincerely, Tommy; Stadium Goods, and more.

And in spite of the heat, attendees danced to seven different DJs; designer Heron Preston, Arthur Baker, Mona Matsuoka, Amrit, Bronz3_G0dd3ss, Bearcat, and Dime. The entire event was capped by a screening of the film “Summer of Soul.”

Here are a few more waterfront runway looks from the Public School-curated event.

Des Pierrot (Madison Voelkel, BFA)

Designer Des Pierrot: “Every season I try to keep it different–give people different tastes. The way I design I try to go for different types of shapes with my cuts. This collection with Public School has some crochet … for my next collection I’m thinking about doing a lot of leathers and bags.”

Bed on Water (Madison Voelkel, BFA)

Shanel Campbell of Bed on Water: “I’m a Black woman from New York City. I’m born and raised in the Bronx and I find that it’s sometimes far in-between to find designers or people in the industry who are actually from here who are actual fashion designers trying to do luxury. I don’t consider this streetwear. I consider this a high-end luxury brand and I only want it to get higher.”

K.NGSLEY (Madison Voelkel, BFA)

Kingsley Gbadegesin of K.NGSLEY: “When I was approached to be a part of this, it was a special moment for me, because having a show was the furthest thing on my mind. However, I was super excited about the opportunity to be able to debut K.NGSLEY in another light and to learn as much as I could along the way which I’m truly grateful for.”