Auger presents: ZALDY SS27
JOHNNY OVERBOARD
Photo by Oliver Halfin
The grandest ballroom in Chelsea has transformed into an ancient barge, primed to set sail. The Bard Room is aptly decked for the occasion. Towering alabaster columns are tied taut with rough rope, and a crossed grosgrain sail reaching the ceiling serves as backdrop to Zaldy’s SS27 collection: Johnny Overboard. Projected onto the billowing ivory reads the name of the AI supply chain start-up which renders this production possible— Auger Inc. Under the guidance of founder and head of creative Leigh Anne Clark, the logistics software brand has pledged significant resources to support burgeoning and established talents in fashion design. Zaldy presented by Auger marks their New York Fashion Week debut, celebrated by the inaugural collaboration with storied Filipino designer Zaldy Goco. Goco has trailblazed within the industry for decades, consistently reimagining the limits of design whilst celebrating queerness. Amongst RuPaul’s favored couturiers, Goco’s Zaldy label is synonymous with dynamic silhouettes, theatrical embellishments, and transcendental costuming.
Photo by Oliver Halfin
Three Emmys later, Goco counts numerous Drag Race appearances and Gaga ‘Monster Ball’ credits on his list of successes. The next frontier? The runway, where Zaldy’s fantastical realm comes to ready-to-wear fruition. Goco first presented his menswear line in February of this year, ruminating on Tom-of-Finland, leather-boy inspirations and stimulating an instantaneous demand for another collection— an expensive ask that stifles many of today’s most potent labels. If the team at Auger, and particularly Leigh Anne Clark, is in the business of anything in particular, it is materializing dreams into reality. “Working with supply chains as I have most of my life, I’ve always had a love for fashion and the way people consume,” Clark muses of this natural evolution. The corporation, through Clark’s assessment of both physical and logistical demand, aims to eliminate the hurdles faced by brands as they optimize operations. “Designers should not have to do it all. If we can streamline the business side, they can better accomplish these incredible feats of design,” Clark adds. Auger’s commitment to creative development emboldens designers, no matter the juncture in their brand’s journey, to reach their fullest potential on and off the runways.
Photo by Oliver Halfin
Clark’s— alongside partner and founder Dave Clark— hand in the production of Zaldy’s SS27 presentation has been instrumental, reaching far beyond the typical demands of a sponsor. “We just want the designers to have every tool available at their disposal,” Clark humbly remarks of Auger’s support of Zaldy. We are chatting the morning before the runway, and excitement ekes from Clark’s every mention of the upcoming show, insatiably inspired by the process. “There are so many elements of a designer’s workflow that we can simplify to allow them more time focused on creating,” Clark continues. At the show, both founders eagerly eye the seafaring garb on display, a product of both Zaldy’s ingenuity and the pair’s commitment to the arts. The Clarks pose with notable guests, including crowd-favorite socialite Anna Delvey and media personality Leah McSweeney, awed by the spectacle they had a hand in cultivating. Lemon yellow britches and technicolor silks sail down the runway, emblazoned in stripes and bejeweled to Zaldy standards. Leather boxing boots complement a moto jacket of the same hue, a nod to Zaldy’s winter presentation, refreshed for the Spring season. Alienesque rods crown translucent green visors in Statue-of-Liberty style, punctuating the chartreuse pirate coat and sheer onyx blouse modeled below. The boundaries of proportion and limits of a hemline are constantly challenged, as metallic capelets baring entire torsos contrast voluminous, haphazardly-belted trousers in proper buccaneer form. Pattern, texture, contour— nothing is off limits. It is clear Zaldy was given the blessing to soar in this collection’s creation, a gift to the onlooker and the eventual customer on behalf of the Clarks. All the while, the shining beacon of “AUGER” branding gleams in the background, smiling down on that which it has engendered. The founders recognize this is only the inception of Auger’s latest vertical, stimulating the innovation of our industry’s brightest minds by supplying creators with the means to reach the global audience they’re deserved.
Photo by Oliver Halfin
Leigh Anne and Dave Clark, photo by Oliver Halfin
