Graffiti artists stormed PDF’s first runway show Friday night, vandalizing the set as audience members covered their noses and mouths in order to bear the smell of paint — until a policeman raided the venue.
Not one’s usual “Netflix and chill” Friday night, except this was all staged, making for an entertaining theatrical finale to a show that, above all, spotlighted brand founder Domenico Formichetti’s community-building wizardry.
For starters, PDF was established by the former stylist in 2023, the most recent of a range of fashion and lifestyle projects he has toyed with over the past few years.
Arriving at the show, guests were met by a human wall of screaming fans waiting for the arrival of their music idols. The rap and trap music scene is Formichetti’s clique. Italian representatives of the subculture were all in attendance, with singers Ghali, Lazza, Tony Effe and Tedua, among others, cheering the runway performance.
Not there, but seen sporting his streetwear creations over the past few years, were Rihanna, Drake, Justin Bieber, and Doja Cat, who helped fuel Formichetti’s aspirational halo among the youngsters who impatiently waited outside Friday’s show for a chance to get into the after party.
A deep and loud dive into streetwear 1.0 from the ‘90s and early 2000s, the collection was like a CD bootleg, remixing key sportswear tropes. There was everything from varsity jackets and baggy denim to oversize puffers, as well as Napapijri anoraks and Timberland boots for a generation that did not experience firsthand the rise of the streetwear movement nor has probably seen the acclaimed movie “Boyz n the Hood” by John Singleton, a key fashion reference for the collection.
Formichetti wouldn’t like his fashion to get the streetwear label, though. “It’s not even streetwear anymore. Yes, it’s about the streets, but it has no labels attached to it,” he said backstage with some hesitation.
When asked about the values his clique relates to, he sounded resolute. “I’m very grounded, I involve them, I try to find as many opportunities to meet with them as possible,” he said. Cue the raffle PDF organized to ensure 100 fans could attend the show.
And talk about a community: after DJ and model Sita Abellán, now pregnant with her third child, closed the show in bubblegum pink outerwear, Formichetti’s final bow turned into crowd-surfing among his cheering friends.
