Culture & Community | Design | Downtown | Fashion | Arts & Culture | Neville Wisdom
Lucy Gellman Photos.
It was just short of 6 p.m. in downtown New Haven, and already the haute couture was flowing. A pulsing beat soared over Broadway, and Zofia Filipczak strutted across the street, shoulders swathed in plush layers of navy. Above a high collar, Filipczak rocked black lipstick and wire frames, not a hair out of place. Somewhere down the line of models, Alyssa Doran struck a pose in white and silver, and got ready to rock it.
Saturday evening, designers Neville Wisdom and Dwayne Moore (a.k.a. Duss Wayne) returned to the runway for the first time in four years, bringing new and classic designs to their downtown home at 27 Broadway Ave. Three years after consolidating shops and moving to the downtown location, both took the show as a chance to remind New Haven that they are very much still present—and still churning out innovative designs in the heart of the city.
“It feels amazing! It’s very surreal,” said Moore, shouting out Doran for her work in pulling the show together, and then modeling at the last minute. “Covid changed everything. It switched up my whole energy—we were just out here trying to survive. Now … I feel like I’m finding a design language myself. I’ve always had a certain taste, but my skill level wasn’t always up to the task.”
From the beginning of the night, both models and attendees channeled Moore’s sense of celebration and growth, some rocking Duss Wayne and vintage Wisdom as they arrived in style, and faux-walked the runway while finding their seats. On one side of the runway, friends and family members caught up, taking their time to find seats beneath the low-hanging, still-gray sky.
Todd Bacote, who is Moore’s uncle and one of his most steadfast champions, said he was thrilled to see the show come to life. Since Moore’s adolescence, he’s heard his nephew talk about his love for fashion and design, an interest that he tried to nurture when he bought Moore his first sewing machine a few years ago.
Now, Bacote has also seen proof of concept, he said. A few years ago, he was in the market for a denim jacket, and asked Moore if he thought he could come up with something. Moore, who works to marry sustainability with design, said he was up for the challenge—and could make it reversible. He chose a pearlescent purple silk, streaked with hints of blue and pink, to accent a cut and design made for his uncle’s exact shape.
On the other side of a makeshift runway, two young friends found each other, and began to groove in pint-sized summer dresses to the music that floated overhead. Nearby, designer Syd Bell slipped into a spot at a picnic table, posing for a quick photo with a friend. Fresh off her own New York Fashion Week debut, she said she was excited to be at the show and to see the styles in store.
Across the street, there was a flurry of activity on the sidewalk: models congregated beneath the doorway of Wisdom’s storefront, in a cloud of vivid color, purple and black lipstick and curled hair. Then, as if Wisdom and Moore had flipped a switch, one began to make her way across the street, curls flowing past her shoulders as a zipped, iridescent pink jacket all but glowed beneath the gray sky. Beneath its zipper, the outfit flowed into a skirted bottom, with a geometric flair at the thighs. In her right hand, she carried a black purse, as if she was ready for a night on the town.
Moments later, the audience got a taste of Moore’s flair for chic and classy streetwear, as a model walked the runway in an olive green tracksuit, the zipper styled at a diagonal beneath an asymmetrical collar. Above a sliver of abdomen that peeked through, a thick faux-diamond necklace and matching earrings made the look feel unfussy but sleek, ready for a night at the theater that still ended at the club.
At times, it felt like Moore and Wisdom had found a portal straight to the Met Gala, and stepped right through. As she transformed Broadway Avenue into her runway, show organizer-turned-model Alyssa Doran rocked a metallic two piece over thigh-high black boots, a matching coat flowing behind her. Over puffed, chrome-colored shoulders that made space for a pocketbook, a pair of large black shades completed the outfit.
As Doran sailed down the runway to cheers, more looks from the not-so-distant future emerged from the shop. In a shade of oxblood just darker than the sidewalk, a thick dress flowed over peach-colored pumps, with a layered hood and built-in cape that looked ready for a cold snap (or like it could have walked right onto the set of The Handmaid’s Tale, but make it sexy and radical).
The looks kept coming. A polished, faux-leather vest shone red above a pair of jeans with matching faux-leather cut outs in the shape of large teardrops. A teal two piece with wide-legged pants captivated the audience with its swooping top drape and long hem. A stiff, oversized black-and-white jacket made a statement over skinny shorts. Throughout, Moore and Widsom carried the show with a sense of flow and whimsy, models sporting checkerboards and black and white polka dots painted on their cheeks.
The audience could feel that energy, it seemed. From their seats, fashion mavens and Elements of Abundance members Arden “Fire” Santana and Shayla “Earth” Streater cheered on each style, beaming as they spotted artist and Rooted Collective founder Alana Ladson near the end of the show. In late August, Ladson walked in their fashion show on the New Haven Green, stylish in black cargo pants, a cropped black top, long earrings and reflective aviator frames. Saturday, she returned in a tight navy skirt, thick black top with flowing, scalloped layers and a snug hood, long earrings and round polka dots on her cheeks.
For Moore, it marks whole seasons of transformation. Born and raised in the city, he first connected with Wisdom in July 2016, at his now-closed Orange Street location in the Ninth Square. Smiling, he remembered walking there from his grandmother’s house at dawn, so that he was there well before the shop opened. When Wisdom showed up, he invited Moore in. After doing odd jobs around the shop, he became Wisdom’s apprentice after helping out on a fall fashion show.
“When we did that first fashion show, he really embraced me,” Moore said. The two have been together ever since: Moore was Wisdom’s right hand during the pandemic, as the shop became a fabric mask factory and tried to stay afloat as a small business. Three years into navigating that new normal, he’s still growing his footprint as a designer—and feels like he’s finally hitting his stride.
He added that he is grateful to Doran, a 22-year-old UConn grad who grew up outside New Haven and recently returned to the city. After spending time in Hawaii after college, Doran moved to New Haven earlier this year, and began working with Wisdom and Moore after stepping into the shop.
Saturday, she said she can’t remember who proposed a show, but was on board immediately. She helped pull together a roster of models, brought in a band for before and after the show, advertised the show and looped in a photographer and videographer to capture the moment. Both she and Wisdom said that Yale, under whose real estate umbrella the shop lives, has been a good partner on the show.
“I just dreamed of bringing all my creative people together and I guess we’re doing it,” Doran said.
Back inside the shop, Wisdom bounced between clothing displays with a glass of champagne, stopping every few inches to chat with a different patron. This year, he said, he’s tried to strike a better balance between his life and his work as a designer, which has meant leaving more of the shop’s day-to-day operations in Moore’s hands.
“I have always made sure my life isn’t lopsided, so I’ve been making more space for things that I’ve neglected,” he said. “I’ve been a little more in touch with myself as an individual. I feel good. I feel great about things.”
That doesn’t mean there won’t be new designs, he said. After going through “a really rough period” as a business owner--”there was a time when we thought that this was it for us,” he recalled--Wisdom said he is most focused on “trying to push myself” in new directions. What exactly that means, he added, has yet to be seen.