Lazoschmidl (Q4997)
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Lazoschmidl is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Lazoschmidl |
Lazoschmidl is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
It’s impossible, for this editor at least, to look at Lazoschmidl’s latest skivvy-focused collection and not think back to Calvin Klein and Bruce Weber’s ’90s underwear campaigns in which muscle-bound male models were made to look like Greek gods. The Lazoschmidl ideal is as mono but tends to the other side of the spectrum, favoring mostly pale, skinny boy-men with indie vibes. Here, though, there’s no coding or hiding of the queer gaze.The product is as direct as the imagery this season. The initial idea was to focus on creating new underwear styles, but the designers’ mental wheels got spinning and they conceptually placed the product within the context of clichés related to men’s fragrance advertising. “It’s a very heroic, very kitsch language,” Andreas Schmidl noted. “It’s all about me, myself. I find the world around me, all this pathos.” In reaction, he used AI to create camp images of boys holding stuffed animals that were used on T-shirts. This framework was also the starting point for music commissioned from Danish band First Hate and used in the film the brand shot in Barcelona with Daniel Riera.It’s clear that this basics-focused collection was built to please. At the same time, it retained a unique point of view and a certain timeliness. Not only were the metal-buckled chore jacket and sailor top on trend, there was a sportiness to this lineup that is in line with the overall interest in the intersection between athletics and fashion that was highlighted at Vogue World: Paris. And there was pleasure to be had in the small details. Those white jeans, for example, were overpainted to give them an unexpected texture. There was a belt made of an elastic logoed underwear band. Plus the new “tanga” underwear had side straps that, when styled to peek out above a low waistline, revealed a neatly framed sliver of skin (“tanga” is a Spanish word for thong). Emphasizing the waist and hips as an erogenous zone, models wore a delicate body chain, showing this accessory has crossover appeal.What for other brands might be a trend is an unchanging worldview here. Lazoschmidl is a small label that has often been ahead of the curve, paving a path from which others have profited. The title of this collection was Sweet Dreams, which might be ironic as these are difficult times indeed for independent brands.
Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl were zine-ing together before they started designing as a duo (they continue to do both), and their brand retains a scrappy niche aesthetic that speaks directly to their fan base and is authentic. It’s passion that drives this duo forward. “This is our form of art,” Lazo said. “We’re going to do it how we want to do it.”
25 June 2024
Spoiler alert: no speedos appear in Lazoschmidl’s fall 2024 collection. That’s not to say it’s not a seductive lineup, but it feels like a coming-of-age moment for the brand given the polish, attention to detail, and more “dressed” designs. Though there’s some irony in that, as Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl actually cycled back to their very first season and asked themselves, “where are we now and how would we approach [that collection] today?”The brand’s debut, explained Schmidl on a call, consisted of six looks and “was based on artists’ obsession with body liquids.” Those excretions reappear for fall 2024 in somewhat abstract shapes as brooches. This season the two designers were focused on the artists who most inspire them—Paul McCarthy, Joseph Beuys, and Gilbert and George, among them—and the figure/uniform of the burgeoning artist, which allowed space for some Moulin Rouge-like tatiness. So the lookbook opens with an imagined grandpa, in a check fabric, with snaps instead of buttons, and a small burgundy whip-stitched repair patch that nods to Beuys. More dramatic is a hand-worked red cotton twill coat over-dyed in burgundy, and distressed, bleached, and hand-embroidered. “Grass-stained” jeans are also bedazzled.The most polished, and coordinating looks for fall are wool check pants with matching shirts. Surprisingly classic, save for the floating but functional pocket, these looks serve as the brand’s alterna-suits. On the other end of the spectrum is Lazoshmidl’s first skirt, a raw-hemmed mini. To painter’s overalls ruffles are added, making the garment club ready. A silver lurex tracksuit is surprisingly subtle, and the addition of ski-style underlayers, a navy jersey cardigan, and leggings continues that athleisure vibe.It wouldn’t be a Lazoschmidl show without a quip. Schmidl created the mushroom images using AI and paired them with the phrase, “Taste the forbidden fruit,” which, explained Schmidl, “was the first comment we gave when we were asked, ‘How would you describe your brand?’ back in Stockholm.” For those curious about the printed hoodies, Sildenafil is a medication used in Viagra and Dronabinol treats nausea. “We are not promoting anything, we are commenting on society,” noted Schmidl.This duo broke many taboos around sexuality and it became trendy to do so. “Everyone is throwing out a Speedo or a half-naked look, so we’re doing the opposite right now,” said Lazo.
“But I think the nerd was always hidden in between the looks of previous seasons. We always liked the guy who was at school and turned out to be the sexy one 10 years later. The guy who plays with Lego and does chemistry experiments,” added Schmidl. Geeks, take heed.
18 January 2024
Of all the collections seen in Paris today, none was more prepared for the scorching heat—and the ensuing sweat—than that of Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl. “You have to embrace it, I guess,” said Lazo backstage, “when we first came to view the location it was way cooler.”The show was hosted at a cozy retro-futuristic space in the 8th arrondissement, and as guests sat (and fanned themselves) on the first floor, we could see models queuing up through a set of oval orange windows on the second floor in anticipation of the show. One couldn’t help but think that if we were all sweltering, there was no way any of the models would walk out without sweat down their backs.We were right, but it was all for the best. The sweating and glistening damp skin on the models contextualized the collection in a way no makeup artist could have. Lazo and Schmidl’s lineup was set around a short story, written by the latter, revolving around a summer “gaycation.” “Salmon in the Sand,” as the piece is titled, tells the tale of “a gay couple or two best friends” (that tone of ambiguity in the relationship felt accurate and realistic here—if you know, you know) that go on a high-summer vacation to a beach town. If you’ve ever heard of Fire Island, the popular gay haven in New York, the scene was pretty much that: straight off the Meat Rack or the beach and into a shared house. (Worth saying that the range of body types seen here was just as diverse, in that it really wasn’t.)“There’s a lot to read between the lines in the story,” said Schmidl, hinting at the undertones of sex, cruising, and more in his writing. The clothes, on the other hand, left little to the imagination. There were lusty speedos and singlets—one of the season’s it-items, here finally with a feel of authenticity—and towel-like après-pool dresses and hoodies. Handsome little mesh athletic shorts were paired with thin polos, tank tops, and mesh hoodies. The addition of gift shop trinket belts and necklaces was a nice touch—this is the resort many gay men are in pursuit of, after all. These are two designers who know exactly who they’re making clothes for.The twist here is that the story, which sees the two men explore different settings from an eclectic vacation home to an idyllic beach and a hiking trail, was offered to guests as a mini graphic zine illustrated by an AI. David Hockney must have been on the moodboard (and in the data fed to the machine); if so, it was an excellent reference at that.
It was hard not to think of the artist’s “Splash” series when looking at the zine or the clothes.It was easy to see this collection in context—this is the way many of my own friends dress during the summer holidays. But one was left with an appetite for more of the playful and unabashed experimentation that is signature to this design duo. A pair of jorts draped just under the waist exposing a built-in thong (yes, on both sides) was an example of the possible outputs here that would have made this charming collection an even bigger splash.
25 June 2023
This is Lazoschmidl’s 13th collection, and its second on the official Paris schedule, which is pretty monumental for an independent brand. Despite the designers’s distance from the four fashion capitals, and each other (Josef Lazo is based in Stockholm, Andreas Schmidl in Frankfurt, and both hold full-time jobs apart from their brand) they seem to have had an outsized influence on an industry that’s currently gung-ho about the queering of fashion, an important shift that hopefully won’t devolve into a marketing trend or pinkwashing.There’s no risk of that at Lazoschmidl, where the pair, who are queer, continue to playfully explore references and narratives that are of interest to them, without an agenda and without putting a label on what they do. “It’s not about queerness per se, it’s about body culture, body self identification, and freedom is always there,” said Schmidl on a call. “But having fun with it, not going to fight for something, and like we always said,” added Lazo, “it’s also offering an alternative to whatever is there. Now the alternative is there…” “…so that’s why we got even more crazy!” Schmidl interjected.Circling back to the subject Lazo said: “When looking at other collections from brands that maybe didn’t start off so queer, but obviously there are queer people designing it, they have since the last few seasons started doing more queer aesthetics, using a lot of latex, a lot of porn references, and going really hard on the sex image; whereas there are sex references in some of our garments, but the overall the aesthetic is still fun and colorful. It’s not like a penis in your face, it’s not that kind of aesthetic, so I think that makes it also a bit camp.” “And we always have this little feeling of kawaii,” added Schmidl, who said the season’s theme was a cute boy going into a dark bar. Which just might mirror the experience of being an indie brand in a corporate setting…In any case, fall’s line-up was a bit of a greatest hits collection, with existing designs like a bodysuit with cut-outs at the waist and suspender pants being revisited in new materials. This makes sense within the framework of the season. The collection is titled Fruit, Flowers and Fluoride, “all the essentials of life” quipped Schmidl—and the artwork was made by a friend who generated it using AI.
In addition to the “forbidden fruit” on offer in prints and knits, overalls and pants had knee reinforcements, which added a bit of a workwear touch to a somewhat repetitive collection. The sports-inspired pieces, like the closing one piece and an aerodynamic floral cyclin shirt with a butterfly motif paired with lace-front joggers, were especially strong.Lazo and Schmidl are storytellers who look at each collection as a chapter, and this one had plenty of page-turning moments. More important overall is that in sharing their true tales without compromise, the duo seemed to have encouraged others to do the same, uncompromised. Here’s to Lazoschmidl keeping the presses rolling.
22 January 2023
This season Lazoschmidl is showing in Paris by invitation, which is a big milestone for an independent label operating far from the madding crowd between Stockholm and Frankfurt. Copies of the brand’s designs and styling have become rife, showing that the label has been unofficially recognized by peers. As menswear becomes more overtly queer, fashion is finally catching up with the Lazoschmidl fun-loving and body-positive aesthetic, which, its designers stress, is for everybody.“People need to be happy. What can we do to make people happy?” is one of the brand’s tenets, according to Lazo. “This is where we started from, that people have fun with fashion,” adds Schmidl. Their signature butterfly motif, available in new forms this season, including a clutch, speaks to the transformative aspect of the metier. Still, the mood this season is relatively tempered. “We decided with this collection to make it a little bit more dressed–for Lazoschmidl. There are more layers and less in-your-face color; it’s more thoughtful in a way,” explains Lazo. “It’s more pure,” says Schmidl, “but it also has a lot of glitz.” (See the “tinfoil” pants for example).At first glance this collection might seem less directional than others the brand has shown, but given the pair’s track record for prescience, it might just be that they are among the few designing for the times we actually live in, rather than for an idealized world. Lazo lives blocks from an immigration center in Stockholm and can see firsthand the affects of politics on people; he also recently lost his grandmother. And it was a flower, the first flower received from her beloved, that was pressed between the pages of her Arabic prayer book, which traveled from Iraq to America and then to Sweden, that provided one of the main motifs of the season. The actual flower makes an appearance, but other blooms, like a rose embroidered on a sweatshirt, appear throughout.If the signature graphic prints don’t have their usual pop, sheer and sparkly boiler suits offer a different kind of thrill. The wider pants nod to the pair’s starring inspiration, the girl bands and singers they loved as boys—Sugar Babes, Spice Girls, Britney… Into this mix comes the awkward and provocative length and lacing of three-quarter American football pants. This, Lazo explains, is a kind of glamorization of “the high school thing and sports, which we didn’t have”—and which form the backdrop for countless lyrics, videos, and films.
In this time of great uncertainty and a changing world order, an arguably elegiac strain of Americana is pervasive. But this is Lazoschmidl, which means those pants are made for going out and having a ball in.
26 June 2022
Let’s hear it for independent designers. As this menswear season has progressed it’s become clear to me that the impact of Andreas Schmidl and Josef Lazo’s designs far exceeds the size of their label. The pair, who work together remotely (Schmidl in Frankfurt and Lazo in Stockholm), have been champions of sex, color, fun, and cheek since they made their runway debut for fall 2017. And, it should be noted, they were on to camp years before the Costume Institute staged an exhibition on the subject.The brand’s focus, says Lazo, has always been on creating “an alternative reality.” This, combined with a made-for-Tinder aesthetic has always made Lazoschmidl feel especially connected to millennial and Gen-Z customers, who have been partly responsible for the sea change in menswear. Things change so fast, and the eye so quickly adapts to what’s new, that it’s easy to forget that latex leggings, the color pink, chiffon shirts, Tarzan-like bodysuits, and chaps for men were eyebrow-raising when Lazoschmidl started showing them. So was their approach. “What we always say is men have the right to be sexy as well,” says Schmidl, “and taste forbidden fruit, try something else that you haven’t tried before.”This season they are suggesting chaps with attached briefs, alone or layered over pants. Last season’s latex leggings in candy colors were such a hit that they’re back for fall, but in neoprene. The designers have a knack for engaging, evocative scenarios, and a penchant for louche 1970s styling, which is evident in their palette and use of Lurex. There’s also what Lazo calls a “surfer cowboy mix,” and the brand has its own (tweed) version of the baja sweater that’s been popping up for fall. Schmidl was a student of Japanese literature, which accounts for the symbols and lettering spelling out the brand’s name or tracing its butterfly mascot.A shirt with chat bubbles links the clothes to the collection video, showing men in chat rooms and their typed exchanges. Digital media has made it possible for others to access Lazoschmidl’s world—and sometimes to borrow from it. Here’s hoping they get some real-world recognition for helping to bring sexy back.
22 January 2022
Post-quarantine social anxiety is a meme waiting to happen; it’s also a reality. Andreas Schmidl and Josef Lazo want to help you break the ice—and raise eyebrows—with slogans on mesh tops and bleached flannel like “Buy Me,” “Out Now,” and “Duty Free.” All are double entendres, and all refer to commerce, i.e., retail therapy. “People want to treat themselves,” says Schmidl.They also want to show themselves. As Lazoschmidl customers are born exhibitionists, they seem sure to adopt the midriff look the designers are proposing; they’re already familiar with the brand’s barely there bikini briefs.Lazo and Schmidl are in an extra-celebratory mood (note the metallic confetti on the set). “The message of our brand is always freedom,” noted the latter. That translated here into shiny fabrics and bright colors. As loud as suspender pants and shorts in yellow vinyl are, they will work as good layering pieces.The push behind this collection, which they called Overdose, was to take existing pieces, silhouettes, patterns, and motifs, and push them to extremes. An Op Art–like checkerboard motif from an earlier season was brought back for use on knit separates that are more than playful; they represent the brand’s growing maturity and refinement. If the sloganized pieces mark this moment, the knitwear not only speaks for itself, but will conceivably keep on talking for years to come.The feel-good item, and the one with obvious crossover appeal, is the knit butterfly top that can be adjusted with a drawstring. Other tops with straps that fall seductively off one shoulder are in keeping with a vein of sensuality (see Prada and Fendi) that seems to be expressive of the “new masculinity” that’s being buzzed about (and which usually translates into softness, a trait that has historically been designated as feminine).The new masculine ideal is on one hand still at a conceptual level of development, and on the other, already existing. “The models we book or we work with, they already have that self-identity of [the] new masculinity,” Schmidl says. “They’re living it already.” And maybe you can too, without going out of your comfort zone. By wearing even a single piece from the collection, adds Lazo, you can “break down the barriers and at least make people rethink what masculinity can be.”
23 June 2021
On their website, Lazoschmidl designers Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl describe their fashion (somewhat tamely, considering) as conceptual and nonbinary. But as their fans well know, they’re not above chewing the scenery every now and then—their first collection showcased their fascination with bodily fluids. This season is their let-them-wear-cake moment. Some of it is rich indeed, down to the last sequined crumb.On a Zoom call from Stockholm—“the Vegas of COVID,” Lazo quipped—he said the fall collection sprang from throwback moments, thinking of lost things and memorable outfits from high school, for example, “when your mom forced you to wear a weird sweater your grandmother knitted or you sported corduroy nonstop.” That naturally led to comic-style unicorns, dinosaurs, and revisited paisley prints contributed by California-based artist Humberto Cruz, drawn from his own memories. There were also poured-on, shiny PVC wrestler suits and separates, and the duo’s signature butterflies, now delicately laser cut in leather. Almost lost in those flights of fancy were ’70s-redux corduroy pants that made a solid case for hip to be square.Things got truly saucy when sartorial flashbacks conflated with late-night, adults-only content. A second collaboration with artist Scott Csoke, who does cake paintings with statements on them, offered food for thought on the one hand and an eyeful on the other. Transposed into knits and mixed with various hand embellishments, one sweater cake said, “Gay art isn’t just about sex or a naked guy on a bed.” A pair of (very brief) briefs simply showed a sequined, embroidered cake on the crotch. That may be catnip for the Lazoschmidl base—and it may prove a novelty hit—but there comes a point where someone should just leave the beefcake in the bedroom.
24 January 2021
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.
11 July 2020
Imagine for a moment what might happen if Cher hooked up with Kurt Cobain. No, nevermind. Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl have already done the legwork for you.Partners in business and in life, the duo behind the German-Swedish label is rocking out in their own world. Andreas writes, Josef draws and interprets the studio, and their offerings are now reaching a broad swath from clubbers in Berlin to fabulous fifty-somethings in LA.During a pre-show interview, Schmidl explained that over the years he had dabbled in song lyrics, which naturally led to the idea of an imaginary glam-rock band. “Mister Sister” is on the brink of an album release, and presumably fame, though the show’s actual soundtrack was left to the likes of Queen, ABBA, and Christopher Cross. Pajamas for lounging in the hotel room—or sailing into the recording studio—mixed it up with fictional tour merch and stage-worthy getups. “Sort of like a recording camp,” they offered (emphasis on camp).There was, for example, a pair of lace-up leather jeans with cheeky crescent cutouts just above the back pockets (“for direct access”). Elsewhere, they returned to a favorite mesh tank, this time embroidering it with pink and red beading. Sequins printed digitally for a marble effect were worked onto a caftan or a pair of jeans (the brand sells equally to men and women). There were harlequin patchworks, a scarf/poncho hybrid they called a “sconcho,” and a horse drawing Josef mined from his childhood archives. A gray tunic came embroidered with coins which were stamped with the brand’s logo is backside and, on the other face, two interlinked hearts, a motif reprised alluringly on jewelry by Saskia Diez.Taken as a whole, Lazoschmidl’s runway can be a lot to process. Taken individually, their pieces are finding an audience. Tom of Finland has come calling: The duo recently reproduced seven looks in doll size and said the results are going up for auction at Paddle 8. But first, they staged a photo shoot. “It looks almost real,” they noted.
19 January 2020
The Saturday evening of this men’s week was feeling rather low-key until the Lazoschmidl show, which was taking place at, of all places, the Goethe-Institut Paris. There, Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl had turned models into American high-school archetypes: jocks, geeks, a heartthrob in the manner of Dylan McKay. Except, of course, their versions were flaunting a fetish ’70s-era style and highlighter hues. “We grew up with these ideas of what high school could be—preconceived concepts of social norms and social groups and social networking,” said Schmidl, with Lazo adding, “I think this is a rebellion against those groups in a playful way.”The cheeky duo that they are, their backlash couldn’t help but turn out extra bright and oozing with boyish sexuality. Among the highlights: hip-huggers blinged out with silver starbursts or in a pattern they dubbed “Grandma’s ugly dress”; too-tight Lurex knits that looked as though copped from their gal pals (the designers confirmed that their female customers are a loyal bunch); and track jackets or tops decorated with a trompe l’oeil sash—you know, for all the rejected prom kings.That the pieces were well-made counterbalanced the occasional ridiculousness. The net result was a collection that was confident, cute, and uncompromising. If the Stockholm-based designers remain on the fringe (in many senses), you get the sense this allows them to continue doing precisely what pleases them (for proof, feel free to zoom in on the sweater in look nine).
24 June 2019
Last year Lazoschmidl, which had been operating as a made-to-order brand, was picked up by Opening Ceremony. This positive reinforcement seems to have given Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl a boost of confidence. The pair, having recently signed with a Paris showroom, decided to take their show on the road, making their debut in the capital during the menswear season. The journey wasn’t without some bumps: thegilet jaunesprotests rearranged thefashion scheduleso that Lazoschmidl and Dior occupied the same slot. Not an enviable position, but not one that seems to have rattled the pair too much. They’re known for a sense of humor, after all, and were in fine form when, on the second day of Stockholm Fashion Week, they hosted a wall-to-wall blow-out party that started with a runway presentation and continued into the night as male go-go dancers (arranged via a hire-a-hunk website) performed on the bar.Their fall collection was almost as attention-grabbing;subtleis not a word that exists in the Lazoschmidl design vocabulary. Still, both on the models and at a resee, this was the most tightly edited collection the pair have made, all while retaining their trademark ebullience. It turns out that the collection’s story was tied to a sort of out-of-this-world script Schmidl is writing, but the Lurex knits, a ringed-planet intarsia sweater, and the squarish sunglasses the models wore all communicated a sort of Space Age/Star Trekvibe even if you didn’t know the collection was titled “Planet Sex.” Illustrating the latter was an intarsia sweater—the factory that produced it dubbed it “the bird”—depicting what Schmidl described as a hand-drawn “Pompain penis.” All done for a laugh, explains Lazo. Playful in a sort of trippy way were the knit animal prints, which had a touch ofThe Flintstonesabout them and looked smashing in an over-the-top way when layered under the collection’s pièce de résistance: a tank-shaped top that had been hand-beaded in a mesh pattern on tulle in India and then cut out. It had what you might call star power.
7 February 2019
The Lazoschmidl show has become one of the highlights of the season. The brand, which mainly operates on a made-to-order basis, was recently picked up by Opening Ceremony, and, according to a company representative, its sheer pants, psychedelic tops, and Lurex separates are selling well to both men and women. This happy turn of events seemed to have freed Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl’s imaginations. They moved on from Palm Springs, their touchstone for at least two seasons, and dove instead into personal childhood memories. In so doing, the duo took a confident step forward, even as they revisited favorite pieces from past outings, like a pussy-bow blouse and a sheer one-piece.Lazo and Schmidl have always challenged gender stereotypes by reinterpreting silhouettes and fabrics usually associated with womenswear for men, and they continued in that vein here. The designers took a shine to Lurex and glittering sequins, and they accessorized the models with metal chain jewelry—including a codpiece. Some male models wore corsets embroidered by Lazo after being crocheted by his mother; one had the face of a Muppet-like monster, another of a cat. For Spring the sharing went both ways; they cast women (the couple Asta Stensson and Elsa Sjökvist) to wear their clothes, which are cut for men. Hand-drawn prints, “paper hats” made of scraps of fabrics, and romper-style silhouettes added a bit of kids’ play to this upbeat collection, titled Playdate.
29 August 2018
As made-to-order designers, Andreas Schmidl and Josef Lazo can enjoy a certain artistic license. This season they imagined the man they identify as the Lazoschmidl persona, as “an idol in rehab,” and described the collection as “garments for an imaginary boy band.” (IRL, Schmidl was living his dream, as Rebecca & Fiona, a Swedish DJ duo, recorded a track for the show music.) A trip to California, which included a visit to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, inspired the rainbows and bright color palette, and, in part, explained the summery feeling of the collection. The designing duo showed iterations of their zippered pants and bedazzled velour pieces readingAngelandBrokenthat might be described as their version of Juicy Couture.In the end, though, the clothes were accessories to the logo briefs (the brand name is printed in reverse so it’s legible when shown in selfies). “Everyone keeps telling us we need a commercial product,” explained Lazo, “and we thought that briefs were most in sync with our DNA to start with.” Having studied their sales, the pair realized that their customers were buying high (showy, embellished tops) and low (underwear). A survey of their Instagram followers revealed that most were young and more able to buy into the latter, hence the (many) pantsless looks for Fall. Whether or not the market will get the brief, Lazoschmidl is clearly not about business as usual.
23 January 2018
Andreas Schmidl and Josef Lazo made a splash today at Stockholm Fashion Week with their most cohesive collection to date. Titled Liquid, it was meant to evoke, as the program notes brilliantly put it, “finding a Tinder match in the 1970s.” There’s not a flicker of a doubt that a man in LazoSchmidl’s side-laced snakeskin hot pants, butt-less leather chaps, lurex knit bathing suit, or lamé jogging shorts would get lucky. With their gleeful and overt celebration of (male) sexuality and homoeroticism (the embroidery on one sweater read "I love penis"), the pair must take care to avoid kitsch, not to mention camp. It was no surprise to learn after the show that the two had been to Los Angeles. A day trip that took them to Palm Springs sparked their imagination, and focused their research on the louche '70s. As they developed the line, Schmidl explains, they imagined “a rocker having a resort kind of moment, still rough and tired from everything, but dressing up for the pool.”Layered over the soundtrack, which included tracks by Whitney Houston and Dennis Parker (aka Wade Nicols, a singer, soap star, and adult film actor), was a computer-generated voice saying: “Buy loads of LazoSchmidl. Make love in LazoSchmidl"--a trippy touch that complemented the psychedelic and Op Art prints the designers used to extend and develop their West Coast theme, and perfectly timed to the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. “Now is the time to celebrate life and love and have that moment again,” Schmidl says. “I think that’s the only way to fight the evilness that goes on around the world,” adds Lazo. “Not to go too much into politics, but if we can spread love, we are ready for it.” Bring it on.
2 September 2017
Andreas Schmidl and Josef Lazo made their solo Stockholm Fashion Week debut today with a steamy collection that veered into camp but also touched on the topic of gender, a major preoccupation in Sweden at the moment. New as a stand-alone collection on the schedule, the pair who run their made-to-order business out of Frankfurt (where Schmidl is based) and Stockholm (home to Lazo) have previously participated in Stockholm Fashion Week as part of a group of Swedish Fashion Talents, under the category of menswear and no gender.Asked about the latter categorization, Schmidl explained that while Lazoschmidl is conceived as a menswear brand, it is complementary to the no-gender movement currently being embraced by brands small and large. Indeed, the low-cut metal mesh camisoles worn by some of the models created what can only be described as “free the nipple” moments. The lingerie-style tops were not worn with obvious reference to drag; as the duo mentioned in their notes, their aim was to recontextualize “classics of gay culture,” “for the sexual revolution of 2017.” “We think,” said Schmidl before the show, “that even straight people these days are open to homoerotic thoughts, so we don’t think you need to put it in a niche; for us, it’s a cultural code. It’s almost like if you would refer to the Renaissance, that’s also like referring to homoeroticism; it’s just a code, a principle.” One that translated into a collection that consciously lacked subtlety: “Everything is obvious, explicit even,” the notes read.Overall, the lineup could have benefited from a modicum of mystery—pants with chaps-like cut-outs tend to have more schlock than shock appeal. “I’m very interested in sexuality, but I’m not interested in telling people to have sex,” Schmidl said before the show. “The collection is saying being sexy is a possibility, and I think people are afraid to be sexy.” They might also be afraid of the textures (velvet, vinyl), the colors (bright), and the tight fit; then again, they might be inspired. Lazoschmidl, operating on a made-to-order basis at the moment, isn’t aimed at a wide audience; its customer is buying mainly underwear and jeans. If at times the collection felt like a self-indulgent parade of models playing dress-up with the wardrobe of a ’90s club kid, there was no denying the happily hedonistic vibe.
30 January 2017