Nestled between two Bushwick apartment buildings is the Madison Square Association Garden, last week the setting for the latest collection from local fashion label Amehl SS23, titled “Prophecy” and coming from the mind of designer Amanda Mehl.
Some highlights from Mehl’s previous shows have included: a long table filled with pastries and jewelry, the centerpiece of her show How to Keep Your Husband; a mock awards show where models received trophies emblazoned with “193st Annual Collection Amehl Gala Celebration”; a back-to-school-themed season where her entire show took place inside a school bus.
Her latest act had begun online before she even reached kindergarten: Mehl and her mother, Beverly Mehl, had created a talk show on which little Mehl would appear as a guest.
“I’m like this crazy new age spiritual YouTuber who’s acting like I have a prophecy,” Mehl said.
As night fell on the garden, a group had gathered behind a chain link fence to watch Mehl’s fashion show extravaganza. “She’s the prophet, so I’m sure she has a lot to tell you,” one of them, a local named Jules Elmurib, told me energetically.
So far, it seemed that the prophet’s message was: “Strangers have come into the community garden.”
A local DJ who went by “Æon” was providing the music for the aliens to dance to, a sort of trance, techno and pop-themed mix created from Regression Records samples. The set had begun with the lonely voice of a girl speaking to him saying, “Uh, girl, it’s not that. Let me go talk to DJ.”
“The entrance restores the room,” Æon was heard saying.
Mehl’s aliens turned out to be a diverse cast of models, dressed in designs that ranged from an array of colors to sunset hues, rich purples, brilliant pearls and leafy greens. Her pieces displayed a real Y2K influence, no doubt a nod to her past.
“[This style is] something I’ve been doing since I was five years old. I’ve been drinking fabrics from my mom’s stash because she’s a designer. “The clothes have always been bad, dreamy and shamelessly beautiful,” said Mehl.
“I’m coming from another planet, I guess,” Mehl said.
All photos taken by Davita Aundréa.
For more news, sign up for the Bushwick Daily newsletter.
Join the fight to save local journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
