(Di)vision hosted an after-party, but the main event was a show and collection that captured the detritus left after a rager. Guests were seated at tables with wine-stained linens, candles burning low, and half-eaten plates of food, with a warning not to eat the oysters. Models, who were mainly friends of brand founders, siblings Simon and Nanna Wick, maneuvered around the crowd.
Something was up—up as in elevated—with this collection. Its deliberate imperfections were somehow more perfect than they had been in the past. “We’ve grown as a brand, and grown in many ways,” said Simon. “I feel like from a contemporary point of view, we know that making fashion isn’t just about making beautiful clothes, but we also have to have a commercial point of view on it. I feel like that’s what we tried to do, keeping our vision for the show [and] making it more wearable.”
One of the ways the Wicks made it so was by adding an important new category, knits. As Simon explained, this isn’t a straightforward task when you are dedicated to creating clothing using existing materials, so these developments take time. But those striped pullovers (á la Kurt Coabin) with the brand logo were worth the wait.
Thinking about (di)vision’s center-back zippered bombers, over-printed flannels, and patchwork plaids within the anti-fashion ethos of grunge works to highlight the brand’s strengths. The DIY aspects of their work might relate to those of the ’90s movement, but they are born of different motivations. Responding to the climate crisis by working with deadstock material that’s available in irregular quantities, Simon and Nanna are developing an aesthetic that turns irregularity and imperfection into assets.
A kind of neo-grunge vibe was only part of the story, as hinted by the covers of hits by Linkin Park, Limp Biscuit, and others, performed by an instrumental band. Of the combined men’s and women’s collections Wick said that the former veered more toward ’90s skater culture and the latter more to Y2K. In both cases, these clothes were styled and worn as they would be in the “wild.” One of the distinguishing characteristics of (di)vision is the community built around it. At the close of the show, when Simon’s partner Sarah Dahl, dressed in a pink corset and mini skirt and wearing one of the many pairs of Asics customized for the show, stood up and started walking, the train of her skirt was the tablecloth. She literally brought down the house.
