FOO AND FOO AT FRED SEGAL
MERDE sat down with Elizabeth Hilfiger, founder of FOO AND FOO, at Fred Segal on March 2nd, 2023. It was the first night of their pop-up, and an uncharacteristically chilly evening in Los Angeles where FOO AND FOO is debuting their politically charged summer collection focused on climate change. The clothing explores how the body overheats, and the designs infuse solutions such as zippable air vents, up-cycled reworked fabrics, and detachable hoods — all in line with the feeling of a ‘second skin.’ The FOO AND FOO cross symbol logo adorn sporty pieces, reminiscent of an SOS call to action the fashion industry so desperately needs. The collection is surrounded by a giant, and quite humorous giant tanning bed, a refrigerator lined with FOO AND FOO Tank Tops, and huge water tanks reading:
“SWEAT, THE TEARS OF OUR BODIES CRY AS HEAD BUILDS VAPOROUS CAGES AROUND US. IT DRIPS AND LINGERS SIMULTANEOUSLY, COATING US IN DEW. WE WEAR ITS SHEEN, NOT ALWAYS PROUDLY OR COMFORTABLY, BUT WE FINALLY UNDERSTAND THE TERM ‘SECOND SKIN’ AS IF IT WERE A GARMENT, A FEELING MADE PALPABLE. TEMPERATURES RISE AND ALL WE CAN SAY IS THAT, ‘IT’S TOO FUCKING HOT!”
While DJ Harmony Tividad bumps 212 by Aezelia Banks in the background, Elizabeth “FOO” Hilfiger answers our short list of questions in the cozy shoe room of Fred Segal. She strokes her FOO AND FOO sweatshirt’s removable bunny ears and invites us into her world, where she exists as Street Style’s sustainable shapeshifter:
MERDE:
What does a politically charged future of street style look like to you?
ELIZABETH:
Just acknowledging what’s going on. For me, this collection’s political angle, if you dare say, is climate change.
MERDE:
How do you justify the industry?
ELIZABETH:
I try to upcycle as much as possible and I like to think that my clothes are, in a way, inherently sustainable because *pauses I guess that is a quite pompous statement, so with a grain of salt, you can wear the clothes in many iterations. You can wear this ear hoodie with or without the bunny ears. You can shift the shape. With this season, if you’re thinking ‘ugh it’s so hot, and then it’s going to be cold at night’ the clothes can change with the weather. Our clothes are mostly separates, so the pieces are meant to be paired with the rest of your closet.
MERDE:
Does FOO and FOO resonate with the French saying ‘Le Fou’?
ELIZABETH:
*Laughs, Ask anyone that knows me, I’m a bit insane.
MERDE:
After hosting both a Runway show and a popup event, which experiential narrative do you feel aligns more with the FOO AND FOO Ethos?
ELIZABETH:
I feel like the pop-up event is amazing because it allows for community and to actually touch and feel the clothes, and the energy of the brand. But that’s a really hard question because with the show you really get to show full force your vision in a way that is controlled. It’s new and it’s exciting, the music and also nowadays you don’t have to be at a show to experience it with social media. Whereas a pop-up event, party pictures can only go so far. That’s also why I wanted to switch to shows because look-book photos can really only communicate so much.
MERDE:
How do you offset how wasteful shows can be in the Fashion Industry as a sustainable brand?
ELIZABETH:
Everything in this pop-up is upcycled, and can be reused. I am going to donate the water tanks to my friends who have camps at Burning Man. And the tanning bed, actually *laughs, one of the guys that works here at Fred Segal said ‘I want it, I’ll make it into a couch!’ and I was like, ‘that’s awesome.’ The fridge is going to go to our office, and all the racks, which were a big investment for us, because we can take them into our showroom and they’re modular so you can make them in different ways. It was also a fun experiment for if we ever do have a store, or for future popups we can use the racks again. Nothing is ever wasted, and in previous seasons I’ve cut up old inventory and made it into something new. The DJ tonight, Harmony, yeah she’s amazing, is actually wearing something from that season. We’ve been working a lot from our basics collection - FOO ALWAYS - and adding a seasonal design element. Sustainability is one of my biggest cares, that’s why when I started I wanted to have clothes that can be worn by many different people, many different sizes, and that could be worn both chill or in a crazy way.
Photos via Fred Segal , Videos by MERDE, Party Photos by Douglas Neill