THE X BOX
A COLLABORATIVE SERIES OF PALIMPSESTS OF THE ORDER’S BEST-SELLING GARMENT featuring ten CHERISHED + influential artists
To honor the base of the hourglass and the sands of time that have passed, I carefully selected ten artists, each of whom has influenced my work significantly from the very first CLOTHING collection of THE ORDER through the last.
An ‘X Box’ was delivered to each participant, comprised of THE ORDER’s best-selling Wax Pant and a contract of co-conspiracy asking that they translate the piece through their own lens. In return, I received a series of palimpsests of the original concept; each a beautifully layered narrative merging their energy and aesthetic with mine. Ranging from total destruction + revival to personally contextual photographs, the pieces were shared in a gallery setting at the TRIFE\X\TA launch event on 10.21.21, and can be explored below.
Infinite gratitude to each one of these brilliantly creative souls, for their time and energy in contributing to this project.
ARTIST ROSTER
Emmy Star Brown• Dan Dwir•Kevin Grady
Alejandra Guerrero•Jettila Lewis•Kirsten Miccoli
Riley Joe Libansky•Haana Thiem•Jason White•I A M Z E R O
[ scroll down to see their work ]
01
EMMY STAR BROWN
‘ORDERLY’ | mesh pant, hang tags, canvas, paint, glue, string, yarn
With decades of history both in life and in art, Emmy and I have been kindred creative spirits since we were in elementary school. She’s a brilliantly talented painter and muralist who did precisely what the system told us that, as artists, we couldn’t: build an incredibly successful career through tenacity and dedication to her craft. You’ve most likely seen her stunningly bright, colorful murals around Chicago, or her fluid paintings on salvaged glass- so when she returned this gorgeously sable triptych comprised of recycled hangtags, the Wax Pant and packaging from the X Box, I was floored by the union of what is so very ‘her” with what is quite clearly ‘me.’
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
This set was made using a more intuitive approach, created purely in the moment with little planning. The pieces all utilize the same cohesive materials with small differences in texture and composition inspired by the monochromatic work of Louise Nevelson.
02
KEVIN GRADY
‘FUCK THE RUNWAY’ | mesh pant, photographic print
I met Kevin Grady when he moved to Chicago from New York in 2019, after being introduced by a mutual acquaintance and enthusiast of all things goth. We worked together on ‘Darkest Before Dawn,’ a special evening benefitting Chicago’s Collaboraction and his band Black Plastic’s first local show. In that short amount of time I developed utmost respect for him as a person and as a brilliant graphic artist/musician, and I’m endlessly grateful for the support he offered THE ORDER over the years. I was incredibly honored when he agreed to participate in X, and am proud to share the piece he returned: a visually and conceptually layered palimpsest of three of my favorite words and pillars of THE ORDER as a brand.
ARTIST BIO
Cleopatra recording artist Black Plastic is graphic designer Kevin Grady by day. Kevin is a senior partner at Lippincott in San Francisco.
03
JASON WHITE
‘THE SPACES BETWEEN’ | mixed media
Jason White was one of the first people I met when Soho House Chicago opened in 2014, and what began merely as a crossing of paths has evolved into an incredibly significant and cosmic collision. I’ve long admired his visionary work and his gentle yet rebellious spirit, and he continues to inspire me to escalate my connection with the work I create. As we’ve grown closer over the years he’s shown me how it feels to truly be understood as an artist, and this palimpsest piece is a beautiful reminder of that. Layered both literally and figuratively, his lightbox is a powerful nod to a Kerouac quote we share an affinity for and a testament to all the mad ones in our collective orbit.
04
HÄANA THIEM
‘LIGHTBATH’ | mesh pant, audio, rotary telephone
Häana is such a beautiful representation of feminine autonomy and power, and after being virtually introduced by a mutual friend I jumped at the opportunity to style her in THE ORDER- she has been such a stunning ambassadoress ever since, bringing my pieces to life in photo, video and on stage in both body and spirit. An auditory exploration of the Wax Pant and a temporal interpretation of the hourglass concept of X, past and future collide in her piece ‘Lightbath’ via an invitation to the future through a relic of the past.
Dial 1-585-774-4222 to experience it for yourself…
05
RILEY JOE LIBANSKY
‘DEATH OF SHADOW’ | mesh pant, polaroid photo series
Through the powerful vortex of Joshua Tree, Riley entered my orbit this past spring during a group trip to the desert. A talented photographer whose delicate lens translates every move he makes, his unapologetic ownership of beauty drives his natural defiance of gender expectations. He and his (also insanely talented!) wife did a stunning shoot of him wearing a corset and dress under the sand-clouded sun, and i knew immediately he would give the Wax Pant a context it had yet to traverse. His series of polaroids as his own subject both wearing and interacting with the garment offers a playful narrative that encapsulates his energy as an artist and I am so, so proud to share it.
06
JETTILA LEWIS
‘FUTURE FLAMES’ | mesh pant, acrylic paint, foam + leatherette legs
I met Jetti in the bathroom at Cloak & Dagger in 2019, and I was instantly captivated by her spirit, her killer outfit, & her gorgeous hair! Simultaneously gentle and defiant, her story is long and layered and as I’ve gotten to know her better over the past year it has only become more beautiful and inspiring. Her work as an artist is fiercely feminine and personal, and the way she turned the Wax Pant into a canvas for her signature brushstroke tendrils and flames truly does foreshadow metallic fire. She inspires me in both life and art and I’m so proud to share her work as part of this project.
07
KIRSTEN MICCOLI
‘ALTERED ARCHIVE’ | mesh pant, altered photographic prints, chains, C-stand
Kirsten is a creative powerhouse and a seer of strange and fantastical beauty everywhere, and of myriad accolades I could offer what strikes me the most is her psychic prowess in the realm of THE ORDER- she just gets it, and elevates it well beyond what I ever thought was possible! Her brilliance is evident throughout collections VIII, IX and X, for which she shot the lookbooks and editorial campaigns. I absolutely adore working with her, and watching her translate my vision through her lens is so much magic. Her palimpsest piece is just another example of our creative energy exchange, and I’m so excited to share her layered creation: each of these photos is from one of the aforementioned collections that she photographed, updated and altered with red markings to draw the image into the context of X.
08
DAN DWIR
| mesh pant, faux leather, metal hardware
Dan Dwir is an effervescent goth unicorn whom I was lucky enough to hire as a first assistant when he moved to Chicago from Switzerland in 2016. To have his impeccable expertise and contagious energy in my studio was such a gift, and I miss him always. He has since moved to Toronto and launched House of Dwir, a genderless brand that celebrates inclusivity, individualism and creativity and I couldn’t be more proud of him. His intention for the X Box was to light a spiritual union between our worlds that collide and complete each other, and I think he nailed it: by adding straps and modularity to the original pant, he created a silhouette accessible to all genders with his signature touch while maintaining the integrity of the original piece.
09
ALEJANDRA GUERRERO
‘LADY IN MESH’ | mesh pant, photographic print triptych
Upon laying eyes on a series of smoldering photos of A MUTUAL FRIEND wearing Agent Provocateur, I was captivated immediately by Alejandra’s titillating work and have been endlessly inspired by who she is as a woman and as an artist ever since. Over the last several years, Alejandra and I have co-conspired in the realms of both nightlife and fashion, from the infamous Cloak & Dagger party to our worlds colliding in a selection of her recent photoshoots. As a new voice in erotica, Alejandra is an embodiment of self-expression through sexuality and feminine power- and her series of self-portraits in the Wax Pant depicts this so stunningly.
10
I A M Z E R O
‘THIS PRESENT’ | mesh pant + magic
Self-described as a professional renegade, I A M Z E R O is a mysterious muse whose realm I entered via forces I cannot identify and trajectories I cannot trace. Following his 3-hour autobiographical sound session for 2020’s X Stream event and intricately detailed palimpsest of the X Box, I’m fabulously lost in a world that exists only in the ether where our paths have crossed & unable to recall another time when my work as an artist was this appreciated or understood. Zero remains a mystery, reigning supremely in the magical & beautiful realm of the unknown…his work is truly an honor and a gift