To call fashion designer Raul Lopez’s (Luar Zepol) vision for Spring/Summer 2015 futuristic seems stale. But, at this point, the aesthetic “futurist” might refer to the auteur who recognizes the necessity for design to propel us out of the widely embraced future inherent to “globalism” — the explosions, the machinery, the outward violence, the transnational myth of the cosmopolitan identity. Rather, Lopez’s new line exhibits hints of traditional sci-fi; one can see flecks of Jodorowky’s possible Fremen-culture decked out in robes of tan and blue. The leather face-wraps, spiky hair extensions, platinum chains, and cloaks create a depiction of tribalism as it relates to urban BDSM — a “self-contained” group that’s rare and insatiable — the inventors of a culture that will soon be appropriated once it’s “queerness” catches on at the global level. Such, the show’s vision of futurism appeared to be largely attached to the visionary qualities of the “local” community. The district, the territorial role, the uniform, all symbolize solidarity, genius, and new potential futures more inspirational than a futurism defined by any globalized, interstellar illusion of a global identity.
Interesting, then, that Gatekeeper’s new “runway mix” for the line is a massive study of tribal trance, house, and electronica wrapped in a hardcore, Rammstein-style austerity. The interlocking school-bell rings hint at the duo’s specific tactic of oppressively educating your brain into the eccentricities and complications of genre. It’s their knack — whether it be through exploring horror, Imax, fantasy, or 90s lounge. Here, they’re rooting Lopez’s SS15 “runway” in European, countercultural pomp and regalia. The harshness of the mix is as tribally patriotic and violent as the clothing line, extending classic Gatekeeper cinema into Germanic trance. They jump from dropping a remix of Max Linen’s tribal classic “Soulshaker,” to nu-metal, to jungle (in the genre and animal sense) with the subtle cultural craftsmanship of the neo-local futurist artisan. It all comes across as a tasteful flex that further demonstrates Gatekeeper’s hyper-focused ability to create new futures out of strange historical data — a motion that anchors Lopez’s fashion beautifully.
• Gatekeeper: http://www.gatekeeper-online.com
• Gatekeeper: http://www.a-d-r.net
• Luarzepol: http://www.luarzepol.com
