Nicholas Raefski Fall/Winter 2022 Collection present “Meet Me By The Bleachers” at New York Fashion Week
Nicholas Raefski’s sophomore collection “Meet Me By The Bleachers” is inspired by notions of false nostalgia – yearnings for something you never actually owned nor experienced.
“Going to high school in the 1970s is something I have always felt nostalgic for, despite being born a few decades too late to have experienced it. High school is all about archetypes and stereotypes; being put in a box. But when we grow up these boxes vanish, we find we cannot be bound by one group or idea. I enjoy the challenge of taking something that I know little about from the past, thinking about it in the present, and designing it for the future.”
The 11 Look collection, divided into 4 archetypal groups – the jocks, the nerds, the punks and the hippies – coalesces to bring new life to kindred classics. Key pieces include a “lava lamp” puffer jacket; a “Dad’s suit jacket” (Nicholas looking back to his dad’s prom pictures, imagining it not to look like it rolled out from the 1700s. Sorry Dad!); a “Mick Jagger button down” (a reimagined shirt version of the iconic “Rolling Stone Tee”); a fusion of a pair of classic leather rock pants with flowy disco pants Nicholas calls “Star pants”. Each group pairs with shoes from Puma, Converse and Doc Martens – three brands reminiscent of the time depicted that too have evolved.
When we become adults, we look back at our youth with a false eye. The past comforts and always seems better than it was, and any pain fades with time. Nostalgia is a powerful feeling that shape our lives, even if it is not personal. With his sophomore collection, Nicholas Raefski borrows from nostalgia to narrate an archetypal tale.
About Nicholas
Nicholas Raefski currently lives in New York City. He graduated from Fordham University in 2021 with a degree in economics and a master’s in media management. Without a formal education in fashion and design, Raefski has put together a team of autodidacts, with a learn-as-you-go moto, and launched his namesake label out of his dorm room in 2020. “Meet Me By The Bleachers” is Raefski’s second full-scale collection and marks his first appearance on the NYFW calendar.
Credits
All images courtesy of Nicholas Raefski
Styling by Jules Wettreich
Photography by Keaton Matusich
Production, Set Design and Casting by Trew Productions
Hair by Oribe
Make-up by Jessica Marisol on behalf of AOFMPro using Dermalogica
PR Agency Rep Agency NYC