Out of the Dark and Awake

Fashion designer Anthony Ryan Auld's spiky mohawk and decidedly urban persona are at odds with his origins, which began surrounded by the pastures and cow patties of rural Texas. He lived in a small town of three hundred people until he was eight, then spent a stint in Alabama before he and his family arrived in Baton Rouge during his freshman year in high school.

The city has embraced this cosmopolitan emissary as proudly as it would someone born and bred in the Red Stick. He is an LSU alum, after all; and since his rise to fame on the Project Runway reality TV series, for which he appeared on both Season 9 and Project Runway All Stars, he has made Baton Rouge his home. At least, he intimated, until inspiration calls him away.

Though South Louisiana should earn some respect for its creative, playful approach to dressing—the barest hint of a gathering is enough to get us digging through closets and pilfering thrift stores to create sumptuous ball gowns, satirical costumes, or bawdy states of undress—it certainly has none of the cachet of L.A. or New York and can't boast a prestigious design school churning out the next generation of cutting-edge fashion designers. All to say that Auld had to work his fingers to the bone to earn opportunities in the fashion world. As he explained to the gathered audience at last week's Creative Louisiana talk, while his classmates opted to party their after-school hours away, you could find him in the studio, practicing on the sewing machine and applying for any competition or internship that came his way.

Auld actually began his artistic training as a graphic designer, and he employs a distinctly graphical approach to fashion design that is still reflected in his clothing. The strictures of composition, using the basic elements of line, shape, and color, form the backbone of his style and are strongly reflected in his two most recent collections, both of which are on exhibit at Baton Rouge's Louisiana Art & Science Museum (LASM), along with the work of some of his Project Runway cohorts, until March 30.

The two collections—his fall 2014 collection called Life in Darkness and his spring 2014 collection called Native Reawakening—are stylistically distinct. Each collection tells a story—a necessary point of beginning for Auld—and each is a cohesive body of work to the extent that the separate pieces are interchangeable.

Life In Darkness was designed while Auld was battling his second bout with testicular cancer, and the collection reflects the heavy weight of that circumstance. His concept sketch for the collection, a preliminary exercise he uses to work out broad concepts before actually designing any clothing for a collection, was an abstract slurry of black brushstrokes—a menacing cloud forcing itself from the left edge of the canvas onto the clean, white page.

The clothing that arose from that sketch, though, doesn't reflect its chaos or despair. While the palette is notable for its absence of color, using only black, grey, and white, Auld did not give the collection over to turmoil or—worse yet—self-pity. The ensembles are tightly designed: very symmetrical and hewn to the body. It is as if he decided to exert control over his situation in the one way he could—through his work. The ensembles are calm and controlled, elegant and timeless. Though somber, Auld's designs seem to function in the way that acknowledging the darkest corners of one's mind can sometimes help keep the demons at bay.  

In the context of the exhibit, the quiet solemnity of the fall collection is balanced by the much brighter—in both color and emotional tone—Native Reawakening. Auld described this collection as a sort of “Star Trek meets Native Americans,” what the fashion of indigenous peoples might look like if Chris Columbus hadn't planted his flag in American soil. The collection, like Life In Darkness, is also a little autobiographical; Auld can claim Cherokee heritage.

The first shots of color—bright orange and yellow—announce themselves at this point in the LASM exhibition. The echoes of Native culture are not overbearing, though—the use of triangles, embroidery, and a very little bit of fringe the only elements that hint of the collection's conceptual origins. And once again, Auld's apparent preference for symmetry and order are on display: whether geometric patterns or densely embroidered birds, what appears on one side is strictly balanced on the other. 

One satisfying aspect of the two collections, for the pragmatists among us, is that Auld's designs are extremely wearable. He is firm in his desire to make clothing that, while runway appropriate, is also functional. As Auld explained, his clothing, "should inspire you to want to wear it and lift your spirits when you do. What is the point if it doesn't?"

VIEW the two collections on exhibit at LASM until March 30. Incidentally, the exhibition was named one of the top “5 Things You need To Know In The South Right Now” by Southern Living.

SHOP for an original Anthony Ryan work of art/outfit at anthonyryanauld.com.

LISTEN to how other creatives approach their work at future Creative Louisiana talks. A schedule can be found at creativelouisiana.com.