Meditation. CDLM AW24

CDLM keeps on being a fascinating enigma. You can’t quite categorize or entirely put your finger on this New York-based brand, but with every season it gets just better… and even more elusive. Chris Peters‘ process behind the autumn-winter 2024 collection is rooted in his newly found love for meditation practice. “I never really understood what meditation did, but it’s given me such a sense of who I am and being really present in the moment,” he said. “On top of that, it made me feel more a part of the universe than I ever have; I feel more complete in the way that I live and the way that I act and the way I make things. A lot of the clothing is sort of an extension of this process that’s given me the confidence and clarity to execute ideas that would’ve been a little overwhelming or kind of scary previously.” Taking his words literally, there was indeed a sense of interconnectedness evident in this collection. A vintage fur stole that used to belong to Peters’s grandmother was attached to a bunch of vintage cotton t-shirts to create a snood of sorts that could work as both a top and an accessory. Elsewhere, a simple jersey tank had an undulating cutout across the rib cage and was shown over a vintage embroidered gown that was draped over the shoulder, its bottom half pulled through the slit. The designer has always been fond of exploring the full physicality of his materials and the possibilities of “wearing” something, but such experiments are never at the expense of beauty or desirability. For instance, take the long jersey t-shirt dress worn with the wide waistband of a pair of white wide legged trousers. Its ease gave way to an unimpeachable elegance. Elegance, in fact, may be the best word for Peters’s latest offering. It was certainly there in the white lace dress put together with pieces of intricately beaded fabric in gradient shades of gray to white. “I would say this piece is definitely representative of this collection,” he noted, describing the process of making it, which included taking apart a beaded jacket (that also used to belong to his grandmother), and re-working and re-beading parts of it, as a meditation in itself.