What’s the house music look? According to house fan Charaf Tajer, there isn’t one, so he created it based on the kids, clubs like the Haçienda in Manchester and raves he’s known through the years.
“There’s no one style, everyone is welcome in those clubs, and there’s a sense of unity,” said Tajer, who said house culture couldn’t be more different from fashion. “There’s no judgment, no snobbery about what you wear, or how you look. You just come to the floor and dance.”
Tajer tapped his friend Louie Vega, the DJ, record producer and godfather of house, to create new songs for the show, which was staged at the American Cathedral in Paris. There was a reason for that. “House is all about sampling the old and adding the new. For me, the cathedral was like a Gothic shell, which we filled with red, silver and acid green,” he said.
Vega stood behind the decks set up on the altar, and DJ-ed for an 18-person gospel choir that surrounded him. Dressed in traditional black robes and white stoles, the choir belted out songs with lyrics like “keep it real” and “shout.” Tajer said he and Vega plan to release a “mini-album” in March with the runway soundtrack.
Behind them, at the back of the altar, was a big screen that looked as if it was rippling with blurry water, presumably meant to replicate the visions of ecstatic clubbers.
Tajer said he wanted the collection to reflect the “messy worldwide crowd” of house music lovers and brought in pieces of clothing from their diverse worlds — sports, business, outdoor pursuits and tech.
The result was a polished collection that pulsated in acid green, sulphur yellow and silver. Other shades were inspired by heat maps and the clubs’ multicolored lights.
Models walked down the cathedral aisle dressed in silvery crochet kick-flare trousers or ruffle-edged cardigans adorned with shiny paillettes. They wore wet-looking ombré miniskirts, dresses and halter tops covered in green, blue or pink hand-dyed sequins.
Tajer said he was eager to give everyday pieces the house “look,” hence the fuzzy pink sweatshirts, acid yellow cargo pants and silky tangerine-toned baseball jackets.
So that is house style, according to Tajer. And it’s near certain that house fans who, as he says, have little interest in fashion, will pay absolutely no attention at all.