Victor Barragán opened his no-audience New York show with a men’s look, two firsts for the brand. Barragán alternates his shows between Mexico City and Manhattan, a tradition informed by his own upbringing. For spring 2021, he breathed life into a shuttered sushi restaurant on Seventh Avenue, formerly the Sex & the City–famed hotspot Sushi Samba. The bare venue was an ideal setting for his vibrant collection of asymmetrical silhouettes, fringe, and sporty sets.
This season, Barragán swapped his exaggerated “bubble” shoes for sharper, square-toed boots; he said they were a play on Mexican street-clown costumes. Mixing bouncy, pleated skirts into a lineup of fierce cutout numbers, he wasn’t shy about celebrating curves and skin. His body- and age-positive cast included his own friends; many have walked in his shows in the past, and some even collaborated on the event itself, from the soundtrack to the styling.
Sequins were Barragán’s favorite experiment this season, splashed over a barely-there mini for the all-nighters in our future. Its shimmery geometric motif was a nod to the pyramids of Mexico’s ancient Teotihuacan city, while Barragán’s U.S. roots came in the form of deconstructed flags, with big stars stitched across denim chaps and cut-off tees. Given the tumult and civil unrest our country has seen in 2020, that iconography feels newly charged, but there was still a note of positivity: Barragán said he’s studying to apply for U.S. citizenship.
At the show, his contact lenses summed up the cross-cultural, inclusive message at the heart of his label: In one eye, Barragán’s lens was printed with a Mexican flag, and the other featured America’s stars and stripes. “I think this consistent cultural shock is refreshing,” he explained. “Being able to learn how to navigate culture clashes sparks creation.”
