Raul Lopez Reflects on Metrosexuality for LUAR Fall/Winter 2024

The NYC designer paired Elizabethan references with nods to femininity and masculinity to explore the Y2K phenomenon.

WRITER: GREGORY BABCOCK PHOTOGRAPHER: MELODIE JENG

“All of my collections have New York embedded in them. It's part of who I am and the lens I see the world through,” Raul Lopez explains to GOAT. Launching LUAR in 2011 before putting the brand on hiatus until 2021, a decade away didn’t just energize the designer, it predicated a series of back-to-back accomplishments, ranging from a win as American Accessory Designer of the Year at the CFDA Awards to the runaway success of the Ana bag. According to Lopez, this is all part of the process. “The accolades and awards let me know that the narrative I'm pushing is relevant and is reaching the right audiences—but I make sure to stay grounded.”

Discover GOAT's exclusive backstage look at the LUAR FW24 presentation before the runway.

Models walk the runway at LUAR’s Fall/Winter 2024 ‘Deceptionista’ presentation, held in Brooklyn, New York on February 13, 2024.

For Fall/Winter 2024, Lopez returned to New York Fashion Week, grappling with masculinity, sexual identity and societal acceptance. Showcased at a Brooklyn warehouse, the event made waves before a single look was even sent out, due in no small part to the presence of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. Titled ‘Deceptionista,’ the collection centered around “metrosexuality,” a well-groomed, style-obsessed male archetype that dominated American popular culture in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Backstage at LUAR’s Fall/Winter 2024 ‘Deceptionista’ showcase. Designer Raul Lopez often casts his models based on personal connections.

For Lopez, the persona was a useful shield while growing up, a way for him to navigate the world at a time when queer culture was less visible and still largely unacceptable to broader society. “Metrosexuality was not just a label or a look—it was a trapdoor to acceptance,” shared Lopez after the show. “As society embraces a softer masculine aesthetic again, it’s no longer the metrosexual man doing the deceiving, but society retreating on its own heteronormative programming.”

Shiny leather garments kicked off the presentation in the form of clean tailoring and exaggerated outerwear. Bold shoulders and oversized sleeves nodded to the collection’s Elizabethan influences among other historical references. Tiger-striped textiles, ostrich-print fabrics and fur-like textures appeared throughout on sheer shirting and leather pants, and as accents on accessories and jackets.

Animalistic accents, including tiger-striped textiles, ostrich-print fabrics and fur-like trim, appeared on several pieces in the collection. The designer also debuted a “LUAR Basics” line and a multi-season collaboration with Canadian brand Moose Knuckles.

Homages to the animal kingdom extended to a collaboration with Moose Knuckles revealed on the runway. Reimagining parkas with LUAR house codes, the preview served as the first installment of a multi-season partnership. “It’s so exciting to be working with a brand that champions innovation, technology and design,” says Lopez. “Those themes are always at the forefront of my design process.”

Inspired by Elizabethan aesthetics, Lopez crafted garments with bold shoulders and oversized sleeves.

A new collaboration wasn’t the only thing debuted on the runway. This season also marked the launch of “LUAR Basics.” A counterbalance to some of Lopez’s most audacious designs, the pieces punctuated the collection with dresses, T-shirts and sweats that deliver on Lopez’s vision of wardrobe essentials. “The balance is in narrowing down the things that I use most often and creating that utility within the LUAR aesthetic language.”

LUAR's cult-favorite Ana bag, reimagined as a backpack silhouette.

Of course, no LUAR show would be complete without a look into the future of the Ana bag. This season the cult-favorite accessory arrived in entirely new permutations, including an avant-garde backpack silhouette. “The backpack we debuted is the newest expansion in the accessory category. As LUAR evolves I want the accessories to build with my community’s wardrobe.”

Accents, including Rococo-inspired nail art and braided hair extensions, added a sense of drama to the runway looks.

LUAR’s take on sunglasses, inspired by old men who wear shades on top of their reading glasses, are a reminder that New Yorkers are at the core of Lopez’s creative process—no matter how far they might appear to be removed from his world at first glance. “The new accessories launching this year, our backpack and eyewear, will have a unique-meets-universal appeal. LUAR pieces will always be a conversation starter, but they will also have a real-life practicality behind them.”

Known for its tight-knit community of supporters and family, the LUAR team prepares garments and accessories for the ‘Deceptionista’ runway show.

As a whole, the garments spoke to shifting conversations around sexuality and how we present ourselves to the outside world. While Lopez’s work honors the diversity native to New York—a melting pot of ideas, personalities and cultures—his work drives conversations forward through his own lens. “This collection is about challenging sexuality, and I’m so happy to see that metrosexuality within our cultures is no longer such a taboo,” Lopez says. “My collection helps people see that New York is alive and well. People are still here pushing boundaries.”

Explore Raul Lopez’s journey through fashion in GREATEST 08.