There is perhaps no better way to experience a collection than by immersing yourself in the world of its designers. For twin sisters Dynasty and Soull Ogun of L’Enchanteur, that meant there was only one place they could show their spring 2025 offering: “Bed-Stuy, baby,” Soull told Vogue from her Brooklyn home, which doubles as the brand’s showroom. “When we thought about the concept, we wanted to create this serene, surreal, multidimensional situation where you thought you were walking through portals,” Soull continues. “And really pull people into our world,” Dynasty adds. “I feel like this is a thought chamber, so to speak. It s how we think; it s what s going on in our minds.”
Upon entering the brownstone, guests were met with a sound bath in the foyer, courtesy of artist-practitioner duo Christine Alfred and Bobby Picciotto of Awarehouse. In the parlor, artist Mickalene Thomas sat reclined, reading Bell Hooks. Models walked about the space, “exchanging energies” with guests—as described in a post-presentation release—and in a corner, a woman braided a man’s hair. A back room was reserved for tarot readings by Jade Chalchiquetzalli (which almost every buyer, editor and stylist got) and fresh flowers to takeaway, arranged on-site by rapper M1.
There was a lot to take in from the presentation, which the Ogun sisters collaborated on with creative director Cynthia Cervantes, yet, the L’Enchanteur spring 2025 pieces worn by the models, artists, practitioners and designers were unmissable. One model wore a chunky chain of gold cylinders with a potion-bottle pendant hanging from it, the multiple buns in her hair bedecked with gold coin accessories. Another wore gold rollers at the crown of her head, encircled by about a dozen gold alligator clips, as if she were about to sit under the dryer at the salon. Thomas had on multiple, textured hoop earrings, a smattering of signet rings, and a pair of glasses with no lenses and exaggerated metal frames.
The CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund finalists gave the collection not just a name, but a meaning and a thorough description:
K.O.D.E. (Keys Open Doors Everywhere): Extra Terra Astrals, (E.T.A) Memory in Time, a portal into a world where the E.T.A guide us to understanding that the metaphysical Key and KeyHole unlock the mysteries of inner strength.
Keys are a signature of the brand, and this season they were arranged to create a chainmail-like top. Another motif Dynasty and Soull frequently return to is faces, which they craft in irregular shapes for pendants and rings. “This is Tsavorite, which is a green garnet, which I really love,” Soull says, pulling a face pendant that’s dangling from a silver chain around her neck. The sisters design the pieces using both semi-precious and precious stones so they can offer them at various price points. Some are quartz and garnet, others sapphire and diamond.
The scent of burning sage drifted downstairs, where more jewelry was artfully displayed in cases and on tables, and L’Enchanteur clothing hung on a rack. (Lena Waithe was thumbing through pieces when we arrived, and Zerina Akers, who styled the presentation, was also there.) “This is inspired by Patrick Kelly,” Dynasty says of the Royal Grapevine shirt, which both sisters wore that day. Colorful and replete with cultural references (à la Kelly) it features the building they grew up in (1834 Caton Avenue in Flatbush) and a drawing of their mother, “chit chatting on the phone,” Soull says. A bright orange lamé pleated skirt, patchwork shirting, and velvet athletic shorts are all part of the labels spring 2025 clothing range. “[With] the fabrics we used, we wanted to make sure that we kept it soft, but also very hard, which is pretty much what New York represents,” Soull says.
Eighties- and nineties-era name plates that spell L’Enchanteur are everywhere in the brand’s world: They’re melded together for chains and belts and bracelets, and made into earrings. Recently, Dynasty and Soull have lined the brims of baseball caps with them. “After our mom passed, we took one of her nameplates and we replicated it,” Dynasty says. (Her name was Althea Josephine, affectionately nicknamed “Mighty Fifi.”) That many L’Enchanteur pieces incorporate multiple nameplates Dynasty tells Vogue, “was based on [us] saying her name over and over; the echoing of her name so that it wouldn’t go away, and she would essentially stay with us.”
Photos by Rasaam Wyzard and Jashawn Johnson
