Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl haven’t been in the same room for approximately six months. With Lazo sheltering in Stockholm and Schmidl hunkered down in Frankfurt, they’ve given What’sApp a workout, personally, professionally, and gossip-wise. During lockdown, a glimmer of optimism came as they noticed their base still getting dressed up (scantily), so they pivoted to direct sales.
For example, one fan reached out for a pair of orange velour briefs that had sold out everywhere. The designers happily made one to order, to specifications of “as slutty as possible.”
“People want to feel good about themselves,” Schmidl offered, while Lazo completed the thought. “The club crowd is planning their Post-lockdown looks, and they don’t actually need to go out to dress up.”
Or dress down, either. For spring, ‘where the boys are’ is in the pool, even if the collection’s official inspiration came to them in a bar when a friend happened to mention her middle name. An alt spelling—“Margarita” — became the headliner for a pseudo-film the pair pitched as a “lesbian road trip B movie,” circa 1990. Cue cheap motel pools, fast food joints, and gas stations. Cow-print shorts, the odd oversized shirt, a gender-bending tank top in metallic jersey, and whisper thin cycling shorts took supporting (ahem) roles.
Lazoschmidl has always placed itself at the forefront of what the duo calls “the new male freedom.” There was that in spades, plus eco-minded pieces like shirts in fabrics made from recycled PET bottles. A recurring leitmotif amid all the lycra was their signature embroidered butterfly patch, which alighted on crotches and sweaters with scribbles of red, white, and fuchsia sequins. Sequined shirts are perennially popular with the brand’s base, and on that count a half-print, half-embroidered butterfly one delivered. Flower prints came by way of a collaboration with a New York-based artist, and the quintessential adolescent meltdown—“I hate you all”—appeared amid flowers on tops and skin-tight
lace-up trousers.
In a season gone nuts for mock film posters, we dare someone to give this one, done in collaboration with the artist Scott Csoke, a run for the money: “Bikini Briefs and Blood-Filled Pools (not coming to cinemas this summer)”. G-rated it’s not.
