'Children of the Night'
“The only thing sexier than a surfer is a vampire; and the only thing sexier than a vampire is a surfer. So I thought this would be fun.”
Images by Monet Lucki
Thaddeus O’Neil's Spring/Summer 20016 “Children of the Night” collection reiterates the effortless and refined nature of the Thaddeus O’Neil brand. The “Children of the Night” collection is largely inspired by the original “Dracula” novel by Bram Stoker, incorporating a loose gothic feeling into an otherwise vibrant overall collection.
“In terms of archetypes, I wanted to darken the perception of the surferand lighten the perception of the vampire,” explains O’Neil about the reason for this theme.
Maintaining the brand’s ideology of creating American luxury playwear for après surf, the Spring/Summer 2016 collection features leisurely stripes and tropical prints in relaxed fit garments such astrench robes, jacquard marine hoodies, play-sleeve shirts and tanks, box pleated beach shortsand bloomers, along with every surfer’s summer staple – board shorts. Livening things up in hues of aqua, citron green, gold, metallic blue, and mint, as well as bold tropical prints atopfabrics such as Japanese silk and Mélangechunky cotton yarn, Thaddeus O’Neil assures no shell is left unturned when it comes to his debut runway show for New York Men’s Fashion Week. Thaddeus O’Neil describes the scene of inspiration for the Spring/Summer 2016 collection in a way that suggests adventurous relaxation:
“The sea has always been my biggest inspiration; its movement and dynamism, the colors and textures and life that it conjures, its pure extravagance in modulations of uncanny playfulness and wrath. It’s a place of radical tensions and quick shifts of mood and is the root of surf culture and style.”
The collection also reflects the rebellious and free-spirited nature that Thaddeus believes surfers embody. “Surfers have always been a nomadic, romantic, wildly poetic andarebellious bunch,” says O’Neil. “Their style takes on the form and content of a sartorial mashup poem –transcendental tinkering and absolute nonchalance; asea hobo’s knack for cobbling clothes together with an accidental wabi-sabi logic. These are the feelings that I try to tap into with my collections. Here, with billowing Japanese silk bloomers, a cotton-knit tank and a lightweight summer trench in ultra-suede. The print on the trench is composed of original block prints by my good friend Hugo Guinness. I adore his work. The scene we created was Lone Ranger and Tonto and the Attack of the Killer Pineapples in the tropical gardens of Henri Rousseau.”
The Spring/Summer 2016 runway presentation, held in partnership with the first ever CFDA Men’s Fashion Week, was styled by David Vandewal,who worked closely with the hair team and makeup teams, headed by David von Cannon and Dick Page,respectively. The trio teamed up to create the ultimate ‘Vampire Surf’ look, which will be unlike anything previously seen from the Thaddeus O’Neil brand.