The Luar spring show took place in a dark, bare-bones space at one of the WSA buildings downtown, illuminated by a few bright white spotlights. An hour and fifteen minutes after the appointed time, the first two models walked out in terrific his ’n’ hers severe black pony suits. The first, an ankle-length jacket in the designer’s signature minimal, asymmetrical cut, worn with matching skinny trousers; the second a shrunken cropped jacket paired with very early-aughts low rise skinny bootcut trousers fitted to within an inch of their life on Omahyra Mota. The lone sound of a boat horn rang through the space; the ominous sound of colonizers arriving, which went on, drone-like, for most of the show and added a somber note to the proceedings.
“The collection is inspired by carnival in the Dominican Republic, which is the oldest carnival in the Caribbean,” Raúl Lopez said a few days before the show at his studio in the same building. “When the French and the Spanish first arrived on the island, they had the enslaved and indigenous people perform for them. Eventually they started doing their own carnival.”
The designer not only sought inspiration in the four different characters that can be found at the Dominican carnival, he also collaborated with local craftspeople and artisans that make the actual costumes. The fringed, pom-pom like technique, for example, comes from the Platanuses native to the Cotuí region who historically wore swingy full-body costumes made from dried plantain leaves, and who’ve since moved on to make them from plastic bags by the name Funduses. A great take on it was the dramatic short Funduses cape in a black and white printed plastic, which added a dose of glamour to a sleek cobalt blue tank and matching trousers. Elsewhere, a dramatic yellow Funduses collar was further customized with a black honeycomb pattern overlay that mirrored the star fabric of the season, a laser cut fabric made to resemble black feathers woven on a yellow background that was used on the two suits that closed the show. “I wanted to respect what’s been done and give it a more modern, luxury, approachable way where people can actually wear them,” said Lopez. “We worked with the artisans and then we added our own touch without taking away from their actual craft.”
Other standouts were a group of denim and casual cotton separates in a yellow, red, and black painterly print, which Lopez said was inspired by “Los Pintaos” from the Barahona region, who paint their bodies in different colors. All the jewelry used throughout—statement pieces made from amber and jarimar, a rare semi-precious stone found only in the Dominican Republic, was sourced from the archives of the Museo del Larimar.
Although at times it seemed the designer got a little too caught up in the historical and cultural references, his fabrication experiments were successful, as was his new long and lean silhouette, with narrow trousers that flare only slightly right above the foot, which are sure to become a new shape this season. In the end, it all came together as a love letter to Lopez’s ancestral land. “It’s really about the joy that we find through resilience, and bringing each other together,” he said.
