Staged at a Radisson hotel conference space, Latimmier explores themes of masculinity, money and power, complete with drag performance of 'Big Spender'
A familiar figure introduced Latimmier’s spring/summer '24 collection: designer Ervin Latimer himself, in drag, lip-synching to Cy Coleman’s 'Big Spender'. The second show of Copenhagen Fashion Week, Latimer hoped the performance, which echoes the drag element of his celebrated debut autumn/winter '22 show at Pitti Uomo, would be a “nice jolt” for guests. “I’m hoping to give this certain, ‘Wake up everyone’,” Latimer tells me ahead of his big moment.
Including drag wasn’t simply a sure-fire way to add a bit of spice to day one; it also served as an introduction to the money-hungry ethos of the show. Dubbed ‘Position of Power’, the collection finds its inspiration in “archetypes of men in power that we see in North American film and TV” – films like American Psycho, American Gigolo and, most notably, The Wolf of Wall Street (the show opened to the tune of Matthew McConaughey’s iconic chest thumps). “We aren’t literally doing '80s business pastiche,” the designer assures me. “But thematically, the idolisation of these masculine men, pounding their chests, high on cocaine, making and stealing money.”
The show itself lies in stark contrast to Latimmier’s autumn/winter '23 presentation, which was an intimate offering of just a handful of looks (it was made in the wake of the designer’s publicly discussed burnout. He tells me that, right now, he’s in a much more “joyous” place). This time around, we’re – fittingly – in a carpeted Radisson conference space, which is packed with a couple hundred guests, all of whom have turned up to worship at Latimmier’s alter to money, money, money.
While the collection itself is, as promised, hardly a one-to-one of the wide shouldered suits of the '80s, there are modernised nods to so-called power dressing. Oversized marino wool blazers with built-in constricting caplets mimic the Wolf of Wall Street scene in which a very intoxicated Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) is strapped to his airplane seat. Elsewhere, classic black suspenders get a BDSM twist. In lieu of trousers, boots that extend to the thigh mimic a trouser leg, leaving an unexpected whisper of flesh beneath shirts and jackets. And then there’s the slogan emblazoned on T-shirts and sewn onto button downs: “Money, Powder, Glory”.
A more tongue-in-cheek interpretation of Latimmier’s bondage banker can be found in an intarsia knit sweater, depicting the crashing Lehman Brothers stock price. “It has this mesh part and the idea is that the less value you have, the more naked you are,” says Latimer. And, most ingeniously, the designer developed a print from shredded invoices from debt collectors – real invoices sent to the brand itself. “For me, personally, it’s this idea of making a suit out of my own misery,” says Latimer. Now if the clothes translate to big sales, the collection will really come full circle.
Discover the full Latimmier SS24 collection below:
Latimmier - SS24
