Florals for spring might not be that groundbreaking, but space-age mermaid gowns and spiky body suits are. That’s what you’ll find in Brad Callahan—a.k.a., BCalla’s spring 2016 collection.
Inspired by drag queen superstars Pearl and Violet Chachki, the Full Fantasy project follows the iconic story of a heroine and villainess, the light versus the dark. Speaking with NYLON over email, Callahan said it was the VMAs wardrobe he designed for Miley Cyrus that informed the new work. (This collection will definitely squash any of those plagiarism accusations.) With a studio filled with the sounds of Lana Del Rey’s “High By The Beach,” Kylie Minogue, Roisin Murphy, and Park Ji Yoon's "Adult Ceremony,” BCalla went to town on the stoning, shape building, and foam molding. One of the pieces required over 70 panels of over 200 pieces to complete. Talk about designing wearable sculpture. “These are performance clothes,” he told us, “so I’d love to see these on the stage.” Us, too. There’s movement to the collection that has to be seen to be believed.
As for where he hopes to go from here? “More custom work [and] stage wear,” he tells us. “I'm still doing lots of work for Pearl, so the only thing I’m really certain of is that whatever it is, its gonna be fun.” In the meantime, check out BCalla’s stunning lookbook featuring his two muses Pearl and Violet Chachki. It’s a collection he says is filled with glitter emoji, crown emoji, bows, painting nails, and the red-pump emoji. Work, BCalla.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
Photo: Michael Burk.
