by Neil Grossinger at Nihl Essentially queer and sensual in both narratives, rooted in queer nightlife and its character and subcultural prestige. Like its inspiration, Nihl is esoteric and hyper-specific, and it paints an aesthetic picture of a lifestyle and a range of characters often invisible to mainstream heterosexual eyes.
So it’s no surprise that Grotzinger’s take on the Y2K craze that has swept the fashion world over the past few seasons. Designers initially found inspiration from strange tech objects from their childhoods: clear plexiglass MacBooks, Gameboys, cell phones, and more. This manifests as a series of experiments with transparency and layering. The most successful are leggings and tops made from layers of sheer mesh, with contrasting stitching that exposes the garment’s structure, similar to how those plexiglass surfaces expose the inner workings of the objects they hold. Grotzinger is at its best, and they build the visual narrative in their skilled construction eyes. There is a nostalgic futuristic element to the collection.
