Label to know: Christopher John Rogers

WORDS KENYA HUNT ‘i think, after this, people aren’t going to want to look like everyone else. Embracing all the parts of yourself that you want to express will be even more important,’ Christopher John Rogers says from his home in New York, where he’s been sheltering. The world has changed radically since I saw him last, at a glamorous gathering at Hotel Costes in Paris, where he was surrounded by a friendship network of prominent editors, models and stylists dressed in bold, head-turning shimmer, shapes and leather. Now, as we all lean into our various respective stages of re-entry, we’re craving the ritual of getting dressed up again, after months dressed in hoodies, leggings and tees.

In the four years since launching his eponymous women’s label, Rogers, who is New York’s reigning breakout star, has been on a sharp incline, amassing a fanbase of First Ladies (Michelle Obama), supermodels (Ashley Graham and Paloma Eslesser), celebs (Lizzo, Cardi B, Tracee Ellis Ross) and retail tastemakers who gravitate towards his space-taking, colourful dresses that demand to be worn on the most glamorous of nights out.

In 2019, the Baton Rouge native, who had previously been running his business from his living room, won the CFDA/ Vogue Fund Fashion Award. And earlier this year, Net-a-porter launched his label in the UK. Then Covid-19 hit and the world stopped going out.

The meaning of his clothes changed as women began to post pictures of themselves in his neon pleats, strawberry-shaped skirts and highlighter bright florals at home as an assertion of joy in these times. ‘It became about community through solidarity. People are using the clothes to lift their spirits because we still want to feel like we’re going out,’ he explains. Last week, the CFDA recognised his efforts by nominating him for American Emerging Designer of The Year. ‘It’s really about wearing clothes that encourage people to be the most authentic versions of themselves, no matter where they are.’