The Velvet Underground s Heroin is a perversely gorgeous celebration of nothingness, the wickedest "why?" in pop. So its choice as the soundtrack for Tony Melillo s debut runway presentation inevitably sparked other questions. Why, for example, would Melillo, a much-loved fixture on the New York fashion scene (if the turnout of high-octane supporters was any indication), choose to take such a big step in his career with a collection so minimal to the point of nothingness? Or was nothingness actually the point? When the music cut out for a while, it could almost have been deliberate—enjoy the silence.
Melillo dressed his show with a hymn of praise to "hybrids," men whose personal style is so acute they can transmogrify the most basic classic with an effortless touch or two. And they d need that magic touch with items this subdued: a black jacket with matching shorts, a cardigan, Bermudas, a zipped hoodie, drawstring pants, a single-buttoned blazer. The outfits had a slack feel that suggested students sharing clothes. A white T-shirt and black pants? How s that for a fashion critique of the essential banality of the human condition? The "hybrid" theme was tentatively present in combos like a gabardine blazer and bike shorts that might have been black velveteen (would that it were so), but in the end, it was all so curiously low-key that, with the Velvets fading away into the ether, one couldn t help but return to their original question.
