NYFW SS25: America Universo

Image: Kiera Simpson

America Universo commands the runway this NYFW SS25’ season as it tells you, in more ways than one, that purity was always derived from fiction. Sister-duo Frida and Irma Hernandez unleashed a collection that beguiles its audience. Derived from a realm of pure experimentation, alienesque entities saunter across the catwalk in unnerving movements paired with a stone gaze that infatuated onlookers.

Attendees were immediately subsumed by the venue at 128 E 28th Street once the lights dimmed. The floor to ceiling was painted in a ghostly white, as hard spotlights infiltrated the space, devouring the models as they strode toward it. Unnerving music filled the negative space that attendees couldn’t. Dystopian futurist screaming and gargling reverberated off walls and surrounded us as it intermixed with techno beats. Playing further into this narrative, audio files played within tracks, “it made me feel a bit lightheaded but that’s all part of the game”.

Image: Kiera Simpson

Guests were transfixed by the models, as if they were casting spells on audience members, dragging us into their version of grotesque feminine reality. Platform heels elongated looks as they towered over us, metal fixtures wrapping around soft tissue. Heels were taped to feet as models staggered through the venue. Directed to walk in ways that solidified the illusion of our peeking into another world - one we weren’t designed to see.

The grotesque is fully actualized via mythological silhouettes which seemingly arise and shift across otherwise uncanny landscapes. Hard materials, horse-like hair extensions and exaggerated makeup circumvent the psychological and spiritual body. Turns of phrase such as “dementia sentimental” and “repulsive deviancy” come to embody the works, forcing their viewer to engage with even the most unsettling imagery. 

Image: Kiera Simpson

As for the garments themselves, hardware corsets are presented to emulate orthopaedic braces, as if to contain, constrain, and protect the body from its own innate inclinations. A doe-like character enters the catwalk, looking around as if confused by its surroundings, seemingly encapsulated in a metal clap that mimics a bear trap. The audience is encroached upon as un-human skin-like elements, hair, tubes, and metal components create external versions of falsified human organs and arteries. 

The feminine is consumed and reconfigured via form fitting corsets that imitate the stretch of human skin. Much like a mother bird which pre-chews its offsprings’ food, we see the regurgitation of sexuality as was designed for us, totally flipped on its head. The sensual and repugnant meet between mouth pieces restraining the models’ movement, saliva dripping to the floor as they skulked past.

Image: Kiera Simpson

The collection presents a direct contradiction of “the device” as it infiltrates human experience. Wires cross, creating seemingly corrosive relationships between skin and bandaging. Elements otherwise assumed to protect, became the wearer’s captor. An illusion of purity was dispelled amongst the seams which split the body from itself. These works reinvent humans from mechanics, pain from ecstasy, as it folds into itself and re-consumes over and over. 

Malformed femininity is curated with every intention to banish you, only to pull you immediately back. The overwhelming of the human body begins as the garments seek to constrain as much as they protect. Grandiose hair styles overlap and enrobe. There is an element of non-escape, the inclination to turn away to run is appeased by an alluring beastly femininity. One that you cannot understand as much as you wish to.

Image: Kiera Simpson

The collection is described by the designers as an “an exudence of glamour for the fuck of it”. America Universo does a phenomenal job of making the uncomfortable both conversational and artful. Attention to detail was key here. As someone who is constantly in awe of the “grotesque woman”… I ate this entire collection up, from start to finish.

The narrative behind a destruction and reconfiguration of innate feminine qualities is a cornerstone to its star power. Mainly this body of work forces the viewer to interrogate their relationship with femininity and the othering it can present. I look forward to seeing the ways future collections force onlookers to think, as opposed to purely consume.