It’s A Baroque Bridal Affair For Who Decides War SS25
An overcast morning feels like the only suitable backdrop for the tenth-anniversary showcase of streetwear brand-turned-new-age Maison, Who Decides War. As one of the seminal voices to emerge from New York’s post-blog era, the already accomplished atelier is using its anticipated SS25 collection, simply dubbed “X,” to actualize an evolution representative of its development over the last decade.
On Saturday afternoon, the brand, manned by fashion power couple Ev Bravado and Téla D’Amore, welcomed a star-studded selection of attendees into the chapel-like ballroom at the Hall des Lumières to join in consummating its bespoke runway showing. Contrary to the pre-show tumult witnessed backstage, complete with frantic final alterations, last-minute styling adjustments, and neurotic vaping, the presentation itself arrived as an elegantly focused display, artfully communicating the brand’s multi-layered facade and refreshed vision for its future.
Set to a soundtrack that saw chart-topping rapper and producer Cash Cobain DJ live accompanied by a complete string ensemble from the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (modern luxury at its finest, eh?), the immersive production lured audience members more plunging into the ever-dynamic world of Who Decides War. In what felt like some kind of intimate, neo-gothic wedding celebration—complete with its own symbolic bride and groom in models Alton Mason and Anyelina Rosa—the latest collection showcased a series of couture-esque gowns and meticulously tailored garments stylized with exaggerated finishes, intricate draping, and complex layering. Reinterpreting classic Victorian-style imagery through a contemporary, moody panache—a lover’s quarrel between light and dark accents—“X” manifests as a potential shift in design language as we enter the next chapter of Who Decides War.
Elsewhere, leather belts comprised dresses and overcoats, sheer silk added a risqué touch to the afternoon’s pseudo-marital affairs, and the traditional image of the revered wedding veil was subverted by lace durags and ornate headpieces. Special collaborations with Pelle Pelle and Air Jordan highlighted the presentation, honoring long-celebrated cultural staples and signaling that the brand’s recent partnership with H&M was no one-off rendezvous with a notable industry name.
Famed for its more sullen, baroque aesthetics, Who Decides War first garnered a specialized cult following for its emphatic disregard towards the prototypical image of luxury in the mid-2010s, comfortably existing adjacent to the widely accepted line of best fit. It was youthful and, even more so, unapologetically rooted in a culture not yet fully incorporated into the common high-fashion ideology.
Today, however, the brand is an emblem of the new industry standard—an elevated image paired with an edgy, off-beat ethos that has the power to join once disparate demographics under a singular banner. After being one of the selected names on this year’s coveted LVMH prize list, Who Decides War is no longer the fledgling artisanal denim brand to which we were first introduced. Rather, the Who Decides War of today is a legitimate tour de force, as evidenced by this season’s memorable offering.
“This is our ascension,” Bravado notes backstage after the show’s conclusion. “From here, we're going deeper into the fantasy that’s being built. This was just a marker of everything that’s to come.”
With each enigmatic look paraded around the runway once more to conclude the presentation, it was clear that the next transformation epoch is officially underway for Who Decides War. Greeted by scores of applause, Bravado and D’Amore brought up the rear in what felt eerily like a reflective homage to what was and as well as a metaphoric “I do” to the inimitable brand’s exciting future.
