A run-down, 94-year-old brick warehouse by the Brooklyn Navy Yard isn’t the first place one might expect to find magic, but so it came to pass. The conjurers of this shimmering and fleeting enchantment were SC103’s Sophie Andes-Gascon and Claire McKinney, and the occasion was their spring 2025 show, held just blocks away from their first shared space, from which the 103 in the brand name came. The duo, who only show every two years or so, noted that it was the fifth anniversary of their runway debut, back in 2019, when they were barely formed as a company. “I don’t even think we had a bank account yet,” said Andes-Gascon with a smile. However, it was a more recent event—their two-week exhibition at Theta Gallery in Manhattan—that had the most impact on this collection.
Visitors to that show, titled “Chimera” after the fantastical hybrid creature of mythology, would have recognized some of the garments that the models wore, as the designers’ alchemy was twice applied. As McKinney explained, a few of the artworks “were in shapes of garments, but oftentimes stuffed or flattened to outline a garment but not suggest the wearability of it, in a way. And then some of those pieces got retransformed back into garments for this collection.” This feels somehow like a parable of clothing in that it speaks to the way something flat is animated by the body, and more generally the transformative aspect of getting dressed, an activity that Andes-Gascon and McKinney believe should be uplifting.
The shared inspirations for their art and fashion shows were, said the former, “flags and icons and sort of the celebratory banners, words, symbols…but also always in keeping with our themes of celebration and togetherness and parade.” The opening look consisted of appliquéd striped pants with something of a “big top” aspect to them, and a craft-crocheted tunic with red and purple feathers at the neckline and armholes and various trimmings, including fringe and buttons. This ensemble was followed by a multicolored crinkled organza dress with a V-neck and a slightly dropped-waist and tiered skirt. Andes-Gascon noted it was similar to those that had performed so well at the brand’s pop-ups. Look 5 was made of a scrubbed poplin painted by McKinney. The back of the dress featured, she said, “silk screens from original drawings that were done on paper for the show at Theta.”
Reuse and repurposing are central to the SC103 ethos, as are costumey and vintage touches. Spring’s lineup, however, was notable for being tighter (more edited, closer to the body) than before. There was also, observed McKinney, “a freshness in this collection; it’s a little bit stripped down.” It was also rather wearable. Printed cotton was sewn into hybrid track-cargo pants and skirtlike shorts and deeply dropped crotches. Looks 20 and 30 were resurrected from art to garments. The former featured spangled and collaged wings that have, as is so often the case with SC103’s designs, a drawing-come-to-life quality. Unlike the witches in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, who craft potions with ingredients like “eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog,” Andes-Gascon and McKinney, who have more in common with Tinkerbell, cast wondrous spells with sequins, thread, paint, and ribbons. The crowd was spellbound.
