Looking Back at CAM4 and CHRISHABANA’s Rated-R NYFW Pop-up
hings got pretty wild at 151 Ludlow this past New York Fashion Week, playing host to conceptual jewelry brand CHRISHABANA's Spring/Summer 2020 presentation—a collaboration with the adult webcamming site, CAM4. The highly experiential month-long pop-up merges the worlds of sex and fashion in a series of interactive elements throughout the exhibition. The eponymous designer himself sits down with V to discuss how this unique activation is challenging taboos around sex and censorship.
“They have one of the largest gay demographics on their site, and outside of any laws and regulations, they give the performer their own schedules on when they want to perform.”
In your own words, please describe the relationship between jewelry and sex?
I think both jewelry and sex share an aspect of intimacy and personal expression that is very specific to the person wearing or doing it. There are a lot of heavy metal and jewelry elements involved in various forms of fetish as well, which is actually my favorite thing about this subculture—it helps to heighten sex and sexual expression. It’s a relationship that may be hard to grasp for some. For me, the two have always swirled around in my designs in a very fluid way.
What about the LES neighborhood appealed to you? Why did you choose to bring the pop-up here?
When we were looking at locations, we made sure to partner with CAM4 to target key areas in New York such as Soho, Meatpacking, and the Lower East Side. Transparently speaking, it was difficult to secure certain spaces in Soho and in the Meatpacking because upon presenting our shop concept, there were certain perceptions of “questionable content.” Our work with CAM4 on this pop-up might be sexy, but isn’t overtly sexual in nature; which made us wonder why we had such a hard time securing a space. It was a fortunate coincidence for the LES location at 151 Ludlow to graciously open up their doors and host the conjoined visual narrative of CHRISHABANA and Cam4. It’s a more edgy, free, and vibrant part of the city that is a lot more welcoming than some parts of what I call the “puritanical New New York.”
Looking Back at CHRISHABANA and CAM4’s Rated-R NYFW Pop-Up
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