Chromat, a six-year-old Brooklyn-based athletic and swimwear brand which has outfitted some of music’s fiercest ladies, including FKA Twigz, Nicki Minaj and yes, even Queen Bey herself, has never been shy about its commitment to diversity, sensuality and, of course, putting on a good show.
Designer Becca McCharen has flexed her architecture background to create some of the coolest, cage-like contraptions with the aid of a 3-D printer and plenty of utilitarian details — think buckles, straps and chains. But at her spring 2017 presentation on Friday, the pieces seemed a bit more tame, as McCharen prioritized swimwear over those edgier, voluminous hoop skirt frames seen in seasons past.
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THE LADIES HAVE IT: Iskra Lawrence (left), Sabina Karlsson and Lauren Wasser at Chromat’s spring 2017 show. (Photos: Getty Images)
What the clothes lacked in drama, however, the over-the-top runway theatrics made up for. Opening with a choreographed, interpretative dance number by (a very pregnant) Mela Murder, who twisted and folded her way up and down the runway to the pulsing bass line, the show continued with what might arguably be the most diverse cast at Fashion Week, with trans, plus-size (including body positivity star Iskra Lawrence), amputee Lauren Wasser and ethnically diverse models stomping down the runway in Reebok pool slides and platforms with urgent, aggressive strides. Dramatic styling in the form of massive face jewelry, full, natural hair and bright eyeliner only emphasized the hyped-up energy.
The crowd, a wildly diverse entity itself featuring hair colors in every shade of the rainbow, showed its appreciation by periodically bursting into rowdy cheers — again, a response to the models, rather than the bikinis and black mesh cover-ups.
Overall, the brand stuck to its message: “Chromat is focused on empowering women of all shapes and sizes through perfectly fit garments for every body.”
