How Steve Aoki Responds To Trump's America Through Fashion

It takes a big name, like a politician or the President, to shut down a New York City block. But for Steve Aoki, that’s exactly what happened.


On Tuesday night, the popular DJ-turned-designer hosted a runway show-cum-concert, replete with a marching band and on-stage performances by Aoki himself, in which hundreds of fans gathered for free to preview items from the musician’s Dim Mak collection, and get the first-listen on songs from his upcoming studio album.

The collection is mainstream accessible, fusing extreme American normcore (white dad sneakers and cargo shorts) with Japanese streetwear-inspired hoodies and denim. Aoki worked with popular graffiti artist David Choe as well.

For as much as the clothes represent Aoki’s global perspective (he says pocket placements and materials he saw in Japan inspired him), it also represents the state of American politics.

Jackets are emblazoned with the national anthem’s “land of the free,” and screen printed shirts and hoodies say “paradise” and “any means necessary.” There also shirts featuring palm trees made of razor blades and barbed wire teeth-baring guard dogs.

“When we were creating this mood board, obviously on our minds was the Trump presidency and this regression, this state of chaos and how to find paradise through this difficult era we’re in. The imagery is based around that,” Aoki says.

Political fashion has been something of a theme over the last year on international runways, eliciting both approval and eye rolls from fashion critics.

Some applaud a designer’s ambition to promote progressiveness via T-shirts. Others say time is better spent actually protesting (And sometimes those protests happen right on the runway, unplanned.) Still, fashion has done its part to put its money where its mouth is, at least for organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Aoki, well known for his cake-throwing antics and signature long black hair (he says he won’t soon cut it unless he becomes a monk) has produced five collections for his men’s clothing line, Dim Mak Collection. His most recent, shown during Fall-Winter New York Fashion Week in February, received mixed reviews. (Vogue said it had doubtless appeal. Vice said it was confused.)

When asked whether he thinks statement T-shirts and politically-inspired fashion can inspire effective change, Aoki said, “I think it’s just the expression of what’s happening around us now, at least for me. I want to feel something before I create the mood board.”

Aoki continued: “There’s all this shit we have to deal with throughout the day. Every day we keep looking for our pursuit of happiness.”

Gigi Hadid Takes A Super Stylish Walk On The Moon For The June/July Issue of Harper's Bazaar

Following last month’s 150th anniversary issue of the iconic fashion magazine (which featured Kendall Jenner on the cover—as well as projected across the Empire State Building), the 22-year-old supermodel is on the June/July issue wearing a hot pink feathered Prada hat. The shoot, by famed photographer Mariano Vivanco, is an even more glamorous take than Hadid’s last Harper’s Bazaar cover in October 2016, where she posed with a white horse in a shoot that harkened back to her days riding horseback growing up.
This time, Hadid took us out of this world entirely, posing in a space-inspired shoot where she can be seen running on the moon wearing a silver, sparkly Dolce & Gabbana dress with a pair of Stuart Weitzman heels in her hand (she’s a face of the shoe brand).

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In another shot, Hadid looked like a high fashion astronaut in a silver Chanel cape, puffer jacket and knee-high boots, posing in front of a spaceship at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In the accompanying article, the magazine turned to one of Hadid’s close friends, Taylor Swift, to give the world an inside peek at what their A-list friendship is like.

“As a friend, Gigi is one of the first people I go to for advice. She has this incredible ability to see all sides of a situation and simplify it for you,” Swift told the magazine. And the “Bad Blood” singer revealed that Gigi has none of the diva behavior one might expect from a top model. “Gigi’s number one rule is to treat people the way she’d want to be treated. She’s on time (or early) to work, says hello to everyone on set, asks them how they are and actually listens to their response,” she said. “She is an innately kind and inclusive person.”

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It’s clear that Hadid’s commitment to her career is impressive, and she admitted that at times, her drive can also be a weakness. “A lot of the time I feel suffocated by my own work ethic and by the expectations I put on myself,” Gigi said. “[Bella Hadid] is so understanding of the demands of this job and it’s really nice when you have people who say, ‘It’s okay to take time for yourself.'”

And although the model is a regular on the biggest runways in fashion (think: Chanel, Balmain, Versace) and fronts huge brand campaigns (like Maybelline, Topshop and Tommy Hilfiger), Hadid said she still gets anxiety walking the runway.

“I think it’s always going to be nerve-racking for me,” Hadid said. “There’s always a little thing, like the shoes [are tight] or the dress is heavy or whatever, so that’s what you’re focused on, to make sure your walk is going to go well.”