Saving Coral Reefs One Rave At A Time — A Little Sneak Peek at Private policy’s nyfw runwaY

By Angelica Zhiyu Luo

Let me set the scene for you. You’re finally on a break. What break? I don’t know, I don’t care; what I do know is that you’re exhausted from rebranding delulu gibberish as academic excellence and that you’re ready to dance all that nasty grind out of your system. So you grab a few friends, accidentally spend way too much on a custom flag, rush to a music festival, and slip into a sequined mini dress from PRIVATE POLICY’s spring collection. “This dress is so Barbie-core” your friend gushed, but you know it’s much more than a cute pink dress. The metallic shoulder straps project silver beams and with a rosy glow and sunlit cheeks, you sway to the beat, like a cute little sea anemone, which you managed to help save, just as you planned out this fit. It’s a good day to rave.

Co-founded by Parsons graduates Haoran Li and Siying Qu, PRIVATE POLICY approaches buzzing topics through inclusive apparel. Sustainable, genderless, imaginative, and daring, Li and Qu’s creative sensibility challenges the orthodox involvement of fashion in social endeavors. Each season is dedicated to a particular global issue, and on September 8th, 2023, the brand introduced its latest initiative: coral reef restoration. Developed in partnership with the Reel Life Foundation, the SS’24 ready-to-wear collection “My Coral World” takes sustainable fashion up a notch.

Recyclable polyester and biodegradable sequins are sewn to fabrics, enriching the collection’s tactility with not only natural textures but also powerful originality. In continuation of their previous seasons, little utilitarian knick-knacks are still the emblem of PRIVATE POLICY’s less feminine designs. While some may argue that the brand’s androgynous expression falls short here, who's to determine the sexuality of buckles, zippers, and pleasantly disproportionate pockets? All I’m saying is that I would love me a sturdy, voluminous jacket pouch.

Now, before we get further into the designs, I just wanted to quickly interject and say that, personally, I was not too impressed by some of the brand’s previous releases. But it’s a process; you get ebbs and flows – and in said process, we trust. So when I saw the talented duo (who, by the way, just received the CFDA & Genesis House AAPI Design Grant) deliver a collection that truly marks their growth, I swooned. During one of Qu’s interviews, she commented with delight on their runway schedule, “A designer used to show at this slot that I looked up to, and I was like, ‘Oh, we have it this season.’” Oh, how I love seeing young BIPOC designers become the leading minds of our epoch.

Getting back to the collection, baby pink, lilac, and a cream-toned off-white seep through one another, melting into a soft yet defined aura of warmth. The brand’s iconic hero pattern, the stretched gingham aka the PXL Checker, makes its comeback. It is, however, slightly reinvented this season with a pastel personality, recreating the gentle glow of an early-fall sunset, veiling all its luster over delicate sea foam clusters. This palette of soft and hazy hues seems to have a life of its own; breathing, blooming, and mingling with the mindful curation of eco-friendly materials. The sequins (which are biodegradable, let’s not forget that) glaze over fabrics, rendering the fantastical iridescence of sea critters, bringing forward, even more, the magnificence of ocean life.

In addition, as an all-time favorite of fashionista clubkids, PRIVATE POLICY continues to demonstrate the power of silhouettes, cutouts, and bodycon meshes. We need not mention the sheer evening gloves and balaclavas adorned with coral prints; looks #3 and #6 are practically tailored to slay a good ol’ hot girl rave. The glowing gadgets were also an interesting addition. Twisting and twirling in every direction possible, these little neon twigs marry perfectly futuristic rave fashion and the vibrant sheen of corals – or the sheen that would have been were we ever mindful of their fragility. Nonetheless, it’s reassuring to see a brand directed by the younger generation engage in overlooked discourses, empowering urban denizens with conscious garments.

Before I leave you obsessing over PRIVATE POLICY’s NYFW sensation, here’s a little throwback to the label’s earlier works to get you even more worked up. Launched with each collection was a newspaper-inspired infographic, presenting visual and textual cues to help decipher the designers’ message. As the creative directors expanded their canon, they also produced an ongoing thread of collection narratives, which articulates the brand’s mission impeccably, contouring with clarity their determination to make a change. For instance, on the newsletter for their SS2023 collection, “Noah’s Ark - Peace for all”, two doves spread their wings over a heart-shaped peace sign, and the top banner of the print reads “Capture the Dove, Hope After Disasters”, prompting a venture into the post-pandemic future, urging a leap of faith. Following that was their FW2023 collection “We Are All Animals”, which celebrates the interconnectedness of all beings, homo sapiens or not. On its infographic, as well as the collection’s graphic pieces, are illustrations of an Amur leopard cub, a bébé Yangtze finless porpoise, and a little mountain gorilla. If we examine closely the loveable portraits, we would see clearly defined brush strokes brush, tracing through which we can envision the intangible yet intimate connection between the artist and the endangered creatures – an organic link upon which we all should act.

On that note, we might as well quickly rewind to PRIVATE POLICY’s previous NYFW presence, their runway of “We Are All Animals”. The show began with a choreographic interpretation of the Japanese traditional lore, Kitsune no Yomeiri (“The Fox’s Wedding”), a folk belief that denotes how closely neighbored we are by animals, and that jinxes always follow unwelcome intrusions. Dancers wearing fox masks parade mystically onto the stage, each holding a traditional Japanese paper lantern. Phenomenal; a beautiful homage to the designers’ East Asian roots and the perfect prelude to the collection’s message.

With all that said, we wait eagerly for the “My Coral World” collection to drop online. I, for one, cannot wait to dance to cloud nine with a full body of sequins (which are biodegradable, let’s not forget that).