3 Couples, One Nun, & A Kenzo Bag Walk Into A Bar…

For the fashion-obsessed of a certain ilk, New Queer Cinema director Gregg Araki's Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy is required viewing. Although the film collection doesn't focus on fashion per se, it evokes the kind of moody, brooding, oppressively cool Southern California environment that fashion labels have been trying to emulate since the trio of movies came out in the '90s. For fellow Southern Californians Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, Araki's films were an important source of inspiration in their projects, and a chance encounter in Thailand led the duo to collaborate with the director in the brand's newest project. Says Leon, "We just reached out, blindly. Thank God Gregg had remembered that we did meet that one time." Leon and Lim have been experimenting with a range of nontraditional storytelling formats, starting with a presentation-cum-play concept for their Spring 2015 Opening Ceremony show; this time, Araki directs a short film for Kenzo that revolves around the love stories of three really, really well-dressed couples (and one nun). The film stars up-and-coming actors Avan Jogia, Grace Victoria Cox, Jacob Artist, Jake Weary, Jane Levy, and Nicole LaLiberte, and was produced by new creative agency Framework. Here Now taps into the worlds that Araki established with his cult '90s Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy films, specifically 1997’s Nowhere, from which Here Now takes a few visual cues. Says Araki, “Nowhere and the other movies in the trilogy are very pop-culture influenced. They have a comic-book visual sense and over-the-top style. I think that is what appeals to fashion peoples' sensibility.” What also appeals to fashion people? The Technicolor prints, plush shearlings, and candy-colored bags that make up Kenzo’s Fall ’15 collections. Watch the video below for the short film.