On Tuesday, the Instagram-famous artist Patrick Church staged an opening for an immersive art exhibit and the debut of his most recent ready-to-wear collection, entitled “A Hell of My Own Making.” Whereas designers typically rely on modeling agencies or street-casting experts with a particular “type” in mind, Church did something totally different: He posted an open call to his 72,000 followers, inviting them to be the models for his newest offerings.
Two thousand comments and hundreds of guests later, people of all ages, sizes, races, and gender identities passed through the private studio Patrick Church created, posing against a backdrop in his new clothes, and then anxiously awaiting the pictures for posting on their own accounts. While other brands fumble over inclusivity, Church staged what could easily be the most welcoming show of the whole season.
You may know Church for his artwork or for the ubiquitous white-and-black Speedos that seem to have graced the bums of every hot boy on Instagram this summer, but now the artist is branching out into his first full, ready-to-wear collection. Swipe through the slides to read (and see!) more on his latest venture.
I wouldn’t even call it a casting. For me, I wanted it to be a piece of performance art. With our brand, we’ve created a tribe of people that really we just see so many people wearing the clothes and are starting to feel like it’s really growing and I wanted people to share this moment together. Especially with fashion week in New York, it feels so exclusive so we wanted to break down the barriers to let people be a part of it. I just wanted to give everyone an opportunity to come in, feel special, and have a New York moment.
We designed the collection and had everything made in a variety of sizes to accomodate everyone. We worked with a set designer to build the set so it could feel like an experience. The whole exhibition feels quite immersive. Then, we put a post on social media saying we wanted anyone to be involved. I don’t really feel like people have done that before.
Any size, any race, any gender. There were no rules apart from being 18 and over. It’s been interesting to see the response.There were 2,000 comments on the post on Instagram, but we’re doing rules like one look per person, two photos, and you can do group photos, so I want it to feel like the image is done in a special way — you know when you’re a child and go to Disneyland and do the photos when you dress up and stuff? I want it to feel like a fantasy.
It’s actually really daunting, a lot of work, and a lot of money. It’s really financially scary in a city like New York which is so expensive — to take these risks is really fucking scary. I’m just being real. But we do see it growing! I have no business experience, but we just started to sell the printed pieces online. But it’s definitely more evolved now.
This season, we’ve done a lot more dresses, printed biker shorts, an oversized hoodie — wearable things, not conceptual shapes because the print is so loud. I want everything I make to feel super wearable. A lot of things also match, because I design from a personal point of view of things I wish I could find when I go shopping, and I can’t.
When I first started, everything was hand done because I wanted to keep the value of my artwork and didn’t want too much out there. I do a lot of drawings and paintings, then me and my husband Adriel put it into the computer and manipulate it. It’s interesting seeing what we can latch onto — fabrics like mesh, which sells really well for us, I couldn’t hand-paint on. It’s so nice to see my artwork in different mediums and on different surfaces. Especially the denim, I think it’s so strong and wearable.
The title of the art aspect is A Hell of My Own Making. I wanted to explore duality, angels and devils and heaven and hell. When I came to New York I projected my best self and I wanted everything to be perfect, I’d just got married, and everything was so amazing. I was having all these experiences! But when I think about New York sometimes, I do feel lonely! I do feel kind of exhausted and like i have to keep up and I was becoming so insular so I use artwork as a real form of therapy to show you can have beautiful moments but be honest about your struggle. With this new print, it’s the angel kissing the devil to show we can have light and dark together and have so many feelings at the same time.
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