To celebrate its 10-year anniversary, Gypsy Sport returned to New York Fashion Week with a retrospective collection. And it has a lot to celebrate. What started as a Tumblr page selling hats and T-shirts to a cult following has grown into a forward-thinking brand that never forgets its mission to put community first.
In mid-August, the brand posted an open casting call (a routine practice for the brand), that garnered over 4,000 commenters from all over the world eager to participate in the show. “Every season the community grows—new followers, new friends, new fans, new customers,” founder Rio Uribe says over the phone during a rare moment of downtime leading up to show day. “We ve become more and more aware of the power and leverage we have as a fashion brand in the way that we empower communities and celebrate diverse aesthetics, body types, and cultures.”
Casting director Anthony Conti invited over a hundred hopeful candidates to walk in person at the sun-drenched 12 Mercer Studio in the heart of SoHo. Whereas a typical casting would consist mostly of tall, thin models in simple outfits, this one was filled with people of all body types unapologetically expressing themselves. One performance artist named Ann-Archy Artist walked for Uribe and Conti in a risqué construction-worker look: a tiny tank top cropped above the bust, a hardhat, and caution tape repurposed as a neck scarf.
While it can be hard to objectively measure Gypsy Sport’s impact, it was clear talking to the model hopefuls that the brand has had a positive influence. Bunny, a 21-year-old from Brooklyn, has followed Gypsy Sport since they were 15 years old. Seeing that Uribe hasn’t shown in New York since 2019, this was the year they were finally old enough to apply to the open casting call. “This is my first casting,” Bunny tells me. “I wasn t sure if I could ever do runway modeling. I never saw that for myself, but Gypsy Sport really sees me for who I am.”
Jessica Castillo, a 49-year-old public health advisor for the New York City Department of Health who has just started modeling, says opportunities like this have given her a new love for herself, her appearance, and her age. “This is the version of me that I ve loved the most. It’s beautiful that everybody has an opportunity to come here and feel comfortable and gorgeous. Ten years ago, I would’ve never walked into a casting, but Rio has made it obvious that there s beauty in all sizes, shapes, and ages.”
Inclusivity has become a buzzword in the fashion industry, for better or for worse. Sometimes it can feel as though a brand is merely checking boxes by casting a diverse group of models. But Uribe and Conti have been genuinely dedicated to uplifting all types of underrepresented people since officially launching Gypsy Sport in 2013. “We’ve always tapped into the POC community, the trans community, drag performers, ballroom culture, musicians, activists,” explains Conti on the phone. “It s what we do and has always been part of the spirit of Gypsy Sport. We re intentional about expressing the actual meaning of what diversity is. We’ve been that way this whole time.”
The final cast included some models who have walked for Gypsy Sport since its first runways, such as Jari Jones, Richie Shazam, and Dominique Jackson, who closed the show in a red-white-and-blue net dress with feather tassels and white platform Syro boots. These people were once the fresh faces, and they have gone on to fruitful careers of their own in fashion and television. In the mix were also people who attended the open casting call, as the brand stays true to making fashion accessible to all.
Justin Gomez, a.k.a. Legendary Monster Babylon of Max’s Legendary fame, hoped to be cast, as he sees Gypsy Sport as a family that’s working together to achieve something greater thanks to Uribe, who says, “Everyone s welcome, and hopefully they’ll join us.” Below, Vogue photographed some of the people who attended the casting call, exemplifying the brand’s mission.
