Drew Curry called his spring 2023 collection — Airei’s second presented in Paris, fourth overall and first following his LVMH Prize semifinalist nomination — “Sunflower Gardens,” after a building in Calcutta he lived in years ago. That was a formative time when the Los Angeles-based designer volunteered in nonprofits and made his first cut-and-sew pieces.
Sunflower Gardens represented comfort and safety, and adventure and risk. Echoing such juxtapositions, Curry artfully combined fragile and sturdy materials. A chore coat comes covered with two gauze layers, which will be worn down to expose pockets.
“Airei is about the human touch,” he explained.
Curry deftly worked fabrics, such as wool-jacquard, Japanese denim, khadi silk and recycled cashmere, as well as stitches. Those delicately spelled out “destiny” or outline Mother Teresa’s bedroom.
The strong, lushly textured lineup included a black, double-layer open-knit sweater, a long crocodile green Japanese wool jacket and Kurta Pyjama pants in saffron. Workwear caps and hand-knit bucket hats topped it off.
Curry primarily used different shade of black and saffron — a color on India’s flag and associated with the renunciation of material life.
For Airei’s presentation, he lined a room in the creative hub 3537 with 34 beds resembling Nirmal Hriday, Mother Teresa’s nonprofit to house the dying with dignity. Half the show looks were laid out on undone beds, then hung from the ceiling.
“I am with Airei trying to explore the human experience,” Curry said. “The clothing is what’s left behind after we leave here.”