Wiederhoeft (Q3685)
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Wiederhoeft is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Wiederhoeft |
Wiederhoeft is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
2019
creative designer
Jackson Wiederhoeft is always generous with his ideas. At his shows, notes left on the seats carefully detail the inspiration for each season and have even been known to provide reading recommendations. This season there was nothing. “It’s funny because the collection is actually called Manifesto,” the designer said backstage after the show. “I had spent all summer writing a manifesto because this is our five-year anniversary and I wanted to make a statement about who we are as a brand.” In the end he decided to let the clothes do the talking, and boy, did they have things to say.The show opened with the sounds of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, a bird that went extinct in 1987. “This is the mating call of that bird, who lived for two years singing his song, not knowing that he was the only one,” Wiederhoeft explained. A dancer had been sitting center stage while guests walked in, and she stood up to reveal a white tulle gown embellished with mother-of-pearl seashells that played their own songs as she moved around the room, knocking about four other dancers dressed in black.Interestingly, Wiederhoeft was not planning on doing a show this season; instead he intended to introduce what he called his “corset program,” a ready-to-wear version of his popular Wasp corset. It consists of 68 sizes (yes, you read that correctly)—from 00 to 30, which also come in four subsizes each that take into consideration height, torso, body type, and cup size. Then sponsorship stepped in. “IMG approached us about a partnership with Capital One and Michelin for doing a show, so the runway ended up being the add-on this season,” he said. Immediately following the show there was a dinner with food from the queer-owned Michelin-recommended restaurant HAGS on the Lower East Side.Possibly because Wiederhoeft wasn’t planning on doing a show this season, and possibly because he is once again a finalist for the CFDA/VogueFashion Fund, his spring lineup was an encapsulation of his body of work so far—not a greatest hits but more a reaffirmation of what the brand does best. Corsetry certainly dominated, and his “sweatsuit” corset, covered in heathered gray jersey and worn over a ribbed tank top with rosette detail, and low-slung, wide-leg “sweatpants” with a faux-layered boxer short waistband were highlights.
Elsewhere, a short-sleeve mid-length dress was printed with a blown-up photograph of a fence’s shadow reflected onto concrete, and a chocolate-brown dress with contrasting white broderie anglaise trim had an all-over plasticized look (even the lace). A white jacquard suit with black lace appliqué and a skirt made from jacquard until mid-thigh, then black lace to the ground, was Wiederhoeft to a T: very ladylike and totally unexpected.After the last model exited the runway, 26 women in matching white corsets and satin mermaid skirts, their faces covered in veils, came out. Some were tall, others short; some were curvy, some had very straight bodies. None of them were wearing the same corset size. This was our introduction to Wiederhoeft’s new corset program. “I really wanted it to be about the body—in my natural sense. I mean, you’re manipulating the body, but you know the performers who are wearing it for the first time, they’re like, ‘I can’t believe this is me!’” he said. “With this unembellished corset and white satin skirt, it’s like, ‘I have nothing to hide.’”
11 September 2024
Despite the smoke machine that filled the floor at the Starrett-Lehigh building with a thick layer of what looked like rolling clouds, and the voice of Enya on the soundtrack imploring us to “sail away,” designer Jackson Wiederhoeft was actually thinking about something banal. “Have you ever wandered down a really long hallway?,” they asked backstage after the show. “Have you ever been at a party and you say ‘I’m going to the bathroom,’ but then you just keep going past the bathroom a bit?” Cryptic, but relatable. Since it was impossible for guests to peek into 25 rooms inside a house, Wiederhoeft took the 25 characters that could presumably inhabit those rooms and placed them on the runway, where they walked slowly, salon-style, their full personalities on display.It worked. There were classic Wiederhoeft silhouettes: a super-narrow pencil skirt and a corset in a blueish-gray Harris Tweed, the latter embellished with silver crystal beads; a “conservative” wedding dress with a fitted bodice and long sleeves, a little v-neck, fully hand-embroidered in glass beads; an oversized blouse and long column skirt in striped pink and black silk jacquard. But there were also some great casual pieces: baggy boxer-style shorts in yellow moiré embroidered with the words CUSTOM across the front, a groovy greenish tweed jacket with black piping details and NEW YORK embroidered across the back; an incredible pair of wide leg cargo trousers in baby llama wool. One of the best looks in the collection was also one of the most unorthodox, a hoodie covered in sparkly money signs, worn with wide leg trousers with all-over sequins in a vaguely tropical plant pattern, and topped off with a very formal pink velvet opera coat with a curved cutaway detail at the hip. “It’s something you wear to the bodega when you’re trying to feel yourself,” said Wiederhoeft. “The coat by itself is a very kind of ladylike piece, but I think it’s also kind of sample sale chic. It’s that kind of thing where the outfit is made up of everything you got from the sample sale, the charm of wearing all these things you could never buy unless some strange opportunity arose.” The lesson to be learned here is, should you get the opportunity to get your hands on some Wiederhoeft… seize it.
14 February 2024
Jackson Wiederhoeft staged his spring collection at the La Mama Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village, and the show had begun before the audience even realized. In the middle of the stage sat rows of chairs in a semi-circle, and while editors and buyers filed in, models in a variety of Wiederhoeft dresses and separates, all in shades of peach and pink, emerged from backstage and took a seat. It was subtle and easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it; especially given the amount of Wiederhoeft customers that attend his shows wearing full looks.The lights went down and the models turned out to be dancers, who began to perform an elaborate choreography involving the folding chairs they were seating on. A “starlet” came out wearing a black satin midi gown embroidered with glass beads worn underneath a violet corset, and the dancers moved and lifted the chairs, transforming the space. It was a runway, the starlet wiggling her way through the center of a row of chairs while they held up imaginary phones in their hands; it became a childhood game of “duck, duck, goose,” with all the dancers sitting in a circle and the starlet walking around them; and then the dancers into students, writing in imaginary notebooks, with the starlet as maybe the teacher.Then the real show—the fashion show—began. The first model emerged from behind gossamer-like curtains in a long sleeve fringed dress embroidered with the phrase “Wonderful Memories, Dreams of our Love, Together forever,” it was the second model, however, that signaled something new was afoot: she wore a casual black cotton twill day dress asymmetrically draped across the bodice with black mule sandals. How funny to have Wiederhoeft’s dream be grounded in real ready-to-wear clothes. “I’ve been really lucky to build the business with bridal and special projects, but I really want to think about what's next,” he said after the show. The designer launched at Bergdorf Goodman last year, and his front row was packed with more reps from the big department stores than celebrities (and that’s a good thing!—although Julia Fox certainly looked fantastic in a short bridal gown with an oversized veil that covered her entire body like an exotic pastry under glass). He continued, “it’s exciting to see people respond to the pieces. I was slow to do wholesale mostly because during the pandemic it seemed scarier than anything, but I just want to do everything.”
12 September 2023
We were back at St. Patrick’s Youth Center on Mulberry for Wiederhoeft’s fall show. It was “an operatic, post-gender retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice in which Eurydice chooses the underworld,” he said. That may sound like very high-brow inspiration, but the clothes that walked on the runway were actually quite grounded by Wiederhoeft’s standards. The show opened with a white A-line dress made from a plastic painter’s tarp with a sheer bodice that revealed a waist-cinching corset underneath.“It has such a light ethereal quality, and I wanted to make it feel like it was from another place,” Wiederhoeft said after the show. “It’s exciting when the fabric starts to do things you would never think of; it becomes more of a sculpture in a way.” The dress floated away from the body, aided by tulle layers underneath, which created a voluminous silhouette that recalled some of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s most dramatic shapes. It was one of several bridal looks that were included in the collection. (Wiederhoeft has a very robust bridal business.) Other decadent pieces included a gorgeously tailored strapless mid-length dress with a draped bodice and an all-over metallic sequin embroidery that looked like it was made from liquid gold. A maxi coat was also embellished with sequins, this time in a pattern that resembled a stained glass window with shades of yellow, blue, gray, and silver.But the real news this season was Wiederhoeft’s take on casual dressing. Wide leg satin trousers, a hoodie (worn with an embellished skirt), and denim galore, including for his signature corsets. A pink denim version, came with a matching jacket, and was worn over a black silk midi slip dress. Another in black denim with contrast white stitching, worn with a matching maxi skirt, seemed poised to make some young (or young at heart) goth punk happy. Other standouts included a blue sequined long sleeve midi dress with a lace appliqué of underwear and garter belt (an upscale version of those gag t-shirts available in those little stores that line boardwalks), and the three midi-length shift dresses in white silk, navy sequins, and pink velvet. At first glance they read as minimal shifts, until you noticed the lace-up detail that ran up one side.
The most Wiederhoefty pieces of the collection were the two delicate sheer slip dresses, one in white and one in black, that were hand-embroidered with images from the tale of Orpheus, Catholic imagery, and other words and images that inspired the collection. “I was thinking about things that are undoable, words that are unremovable, things that you do that cannot be undone, so that’s where the tattoo imagery came in,” he explained. Wiederhoeft said he placed images on the dresses “from a tattoo point of view,” most noticeable in the designs on the chest and stomach. As the models walked by, I SAW YOU FUCKING LOOKING AT ME was clearly legible. “Recently I was walking on Eighth Avenue, and someone yelled that at me and followed me for a few blocks, so it made it into the dress” he recalled. “I think there’s so much power to destroy someone by looking or not looking at them.”
16 February 2023
If it’s true that “occasion dressing” is over, then it means that an evening gown is now perfect attire to wear on a Wednesday at three in the afternoon. Yes, the setting was the Wiederhoeft’s spring show, but it’s obvious that for the guests that gathered at St. Patrick’s Youth Center on Mulberry Street, a different location wouldn’t have changed their attire. Before it began, a group of people stood around chatting to each other in silk embroidered capes (with matching wizard hats), sequined robes, and chiffon-detailed dresses. In a short amount of time, Jackson Wiederhoeft’s designs have already garnered a cult following, including a couple who recently commissioned 32 custom looks for their recent wedding celebrations.At the venue, a small set featured a topsy-turvy children’s playground, and the show began with two dancers engaged in a pas de deux; one in a red oversized hoodie with an image of a palace embroidered in the back, worn over a tulle skirt, and another in a red and green jacquard boxer skirt (so-called because of the thick elastic at the waist, and a cropped corset with Wiederhoeft’s signature bow rendered in sequins). “Dance is something I’ve explored since day one,” Wiederhoeft explained after the show. “It’s part of my DNA, it’s part of expression, it’s poetry and motion. It’s the human body, the beautiful things we can do—and so is fashion.”The dancers gave way to a formal runway presentation, though the models were no less lacking in drama and theatrics. First, a scoop neck red silk minidress worn over red feather-embroidered leggings. The model wore a red mesh headpiece, had her hair dyed red, and wore red patent leather pumps on her feet. Then a gold look; a long sleeve dress made entirely of embroidered gold and silver bugle beads in a cage pattern. The looks continued in monochromatic fashion, each one more glamorous and fabulous than the previous. Pink embroidered column slip dresses, tea length ball skirts and corsets, embroidered shift dresses—everything was embroidered, covered in sequins and beads, and made from sumptuous fabrics and textures.“I’ve been waiting for the right moment to do [a show] because if I’m gonna do a show, it needs to be lights! Camera! Theater! Dramaturgy! Dance! Acting! Comedy, sadness, and joy.” they explained. Wiederhoeft was thinking about the push and pull of creativity and dark forces — represented at the end of the show by four figures in black silk slip dresses and taffeta robes.
“Having the support of the CFDA [made me feel like] what we’re doing, the stories we’re telling, are worth hearing.”Wiederhoeft started as a bridal designer so it’s not surprising that their focus is on eveningwear, but what is surprising about their collection is its wide-ranging age appeal, there is something for everyone in their collections. Like a heavily embroidered cream coat with green feathered trim featuring images of jewelry embroidered throughout, which could be thrown over jeans or worn over a dress or suit to a formal gala. The images embroidered on the coat turned out to represent real-life meaningful pieces for Wiederhoeft; the watch that featured across the back of the jacket was given to them by their best friend. “I think fashion is so beautiful because we embody the clothes we wear with the experience and the memories.” Wiederhoeft added, “If people can feel joy or sadness that encourages them to be a better version of themselves—I think that’s what I’m after.”
15 September 2022
Jackson Wiederhoeft launched his namesake label three years ago with a bridal collection he made all by himself during the early months of the pandemic. “It was really beautiful to spend a lot of time making it,” he recalled during a recent appointment at his Garment District showroom. “I felt like, since I am the one making it, I have to be obsessed with every piece in order to spend a week making each one.” These days he carries that same spirit as he branches out beyond bridal collections into ready-to-wear—although bridal still accounts for about 95% of his business. This year, he was selected as one of the finalists for the CFDA/VogueFashion Fund.Wiederhoeft’s trademark is an over-the-top glam silhouette that favors extravagant shapes, intricate hand-embroidery, and a little sense of humor. The signature Wiederhoeft gown in this collection was the one in the opening look; a strapless number embroidered with thousands of pink sequins, and adorned with an appliqué of a poodle’s head (complete with a fuzzy marabou feathers head and ears).Poodle dress aside, the magic of his work is that his clothes are eminently wearable. A long sleeve lace gown, embroidered with crystals and beads in a lace design, looks risqué when worn over a matching lace bra and panties, but swap the underwear for, say a black slip dress, and it’s simply a beautiful gown to be wore to any number of black tie events. Similarly, the embroidered white satin cropped jacket and matching trousers worn over an also fully embroidered “gimp suit” is an obviously elegant ensemble solo. Corsetry is a mainstay of Wiederhoeft’s aesthetic, but now he is incorporating new ways to make it more accessible, like adding a zipper so the wearer doesn’t need to be “laced up into it.” That being said, some looks featured “neck corsets,” tiny corsets that wrap around the throat but looked like doll corsets hanging on the rack. “They really change your posture,” he said, cheekily.A wide skirt in silk moiré with a thick, “boxing short” inspired elastic waist was an example of an unfussy, throw-it-on and go piece that would look just as good with a t-shirt or a little sweater as it does with its glamorous matching corset. Bright fuchsia double-faced satin overalls with beaded embroidery looked sporty and fun on the rack, ready to be paired with a simple white tee for an easy, comfortable way to turn heads when entering a room. “We’re a brand for people who live for fashion,” Wiederhoeft said.
“You can be one of two things, a brand that’s known for beautifully crafted, beautiful clothes, or a brand that’s not necessarily every-day but is for people who want to make a statement.” It seems with this collection, he has proven you can in fact be both things at once.
27 June 2022