WHO DECIDES WAR SS23 Offers Up a Taste of the Caribbean

For WHO DECIDES WAR leaders Everard Best a.k.a. Ev Bravado and Tela D’Amore, the brand’s signature denim-focused design cadence usually comes with a slightly militant discussion. But for the brand’s latest offering for the Spring/Summer 2023 season, the creative duo took a lifted and more vibrant approach to carving out its new pieces.

“We wanted to create something that was lighter this time around,” said D’Amore. “Also to create something that was colorful and fun and people can feel a bit of nostalgia, while also seeing something new.”

To do this, the two looked inward to their Caribbean roots to showcase the fullness of island life. Channeling beach, Caribbean and tropical elements, focal collection details like palm tree, map and bird ocean-inspired elements came to be across focal collection pieces. Even in showcasing these lighthearted elements, what was of utmost importance was also using the pieces to discuss matters affecting island societies.

“Ideating from a place where we’re looking into ourselves, but also touching on a few of the issues that are going on in the most subtle of ways,” said D’Amore. Illustrating these matters are teardrop, flooding and map detailing. Reigning alongside the island-inspired designs is the brand’s premier focus on denim. “For this season we really just wanted to up the ante again. How do we take it to the next level? So that’s why this season I started directly with denim,” said Best.

Denim pieces like jeans and jackets appeared in light blue, medium blue, black, beige and gray washes with distressed detailing and multicolored stained glass embroidered patches. But the attention to elevated street-savvy pieces did not stop here. The lapels on pastel-colored blazers were done up with airbrushed tropical motifs while jackets and matching pants reinserted some of the brand’s signature emblems. Whether it be a jacket, sweater or a pair of pants, each season reveals Best and D’Amore’s ever-expanding dedication to fabric – revealing leather, lace, wool, cotton and denim textiles.

“I think it’s important to reassess what’s going on every time and be able to look, touch, manipulate and talk to it again,” said D’Amore. “This was the first time in a season or two that we’ve been able to get lost in the fabric stores and part of that was because we decided to ground ourselves here.”

Check out the collection in the gallery above.

In related news, TOMBOGO SS23 heads to high school.