The Elena Velez Shadow Woman Sheds Her Scales for FW25
“YR006: LEECH” – a masterful display of storytelling and subversion – sharpened Velez’s vision of the complex creature that is the label’s antihero muse.
The Elena Velez woman is layered, lascivious yet laudable, disruptive yet divine – or, as Velez puts it in the show notes, “both Eve and the Serpent, both the sailor and the siren.” This multidimensional matriarch is a folkloric female figurehead the Milwaukee-born designer has been sharpening since her debut collection in 2018, and even more so since starting her “YR” series of collections in 2021. Velez is now at “YR:006” for Fall/Winter 2025, a range entitled “LEECH” that takes her storytelling to another level in her largest showcase to date and continues to draw from allegory and American aspiration to explore the dualities of EV’s shadow woman muse.
Velez gathered over a hundred attendees in Chelsea’s ARTECHOUSE, stripping the venue of all of its decor, darkening the lighting and transitioning it into a mythical “maritime abyss,” with the screens on the walls surrounding us in rocky waters and stone sculptures built throughout the shipwrecked venue.
“The age of the antihero is upon us,” the show notes contextualize. “In a moment in time where our myths and grand narratives feel more obsolete than ever, we look towards new and imperfect depictions of greatness and potential. Folkloric figures who muddle the distinction between good and evil.” With this moral contrast at the core of the collection, models – all adorned with distinct smokey makeup and statement hairstyles – included opener Anna Delvey (ankle bracelet and all), Dorian Electra, Leah McSweeney and Rico Nasty to close the show.
However, models didn’t exactly strut the runway. Rather, they crawled, slithered and stomped down the winding path that weaved in and out of the audience seating. The third model, who donned a cream-colored corset top and textured black trousers tucked into black boots, even interacted with seated guests, maintaining intense eye contact while lunging toward some of the benches.
Outfitting the “supernatural muse of seduction and subversion” through a total of 30 looks, the runway was split into three different shadow woman personas, with models aligning with either “The Captain’s Daughter” (Velez actually being one, her mother a ship captain), “The Land Walker” or “The Leech.” Spinning societal standards and expectations on their head, Velez employs ropes, netting, and metal throughout her designs.
The show notes continue to describe the EV shadow woman as a “priestess possessing the wisdom of the ages yet as unknowable and unfathomable as the maritime abyss” as well as a “a creature fully integrated with her shadow self, steadily shedding the scales of her prescribed identity.”
However, alongside her striking, statement silhouettes of raunchy ruffled dresses, tactically tattered tops and seaweed-crafted sets, Velez also tones it down in a delivery of what her PR team calls more “commercial” pieces. Taking up just as much space as standout garments like the key-dangling mini dress a lineup of work jackets, double-zip leather pieces, sleek trenchcoats and trousers – “basics” washed ashore and reimagined through the unmistakable design lens of Velez.
Explore Elena Velez’s Fall/Winter 2025 “LEECH” in the runway images above and take a look backstage with photographer Sarah Schecker below.
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