RAVE REVIEWS: Resale marketplace Grailed and independent music platform Boiler Room are teaming up during Paris Men’s Fashion Week for a three-day pop-up titled “Ravewear.”
From June 20 to 22, this shoppable selection of nearly 200 items, drawn from the Grailed archive and from its sellers and collectors, illustrates the connection between rave culture and fashion from the 1990s until now.
For Grailed creative director Joel Evey, a child of the ‘90s himself, it was a period of creative effervescence that continues to have resonance in today’s creation – in music as well as fashion.
“Not only am I personally passionate about [this period] but it’s such a nexus for all these cultural moments and cultural touchpoints,” he told WWD. “So seeing that lineage of musical ideas, artistic energy, the style of dressing, the brands that have gotten popular made us want to showcase that.”
The unreleased Adidas Samba collaboration with Been Trill.
Courtesy of Grailed
Up for grabs will be items such as a boiler suit from Raf Simons’ spring 2002 collection; Rick Owens bleached pusher pants; a mirror hat by Belgian designer Walter van Beirendonck; ghillie shorts by Comme des Garçons; and the futuristic over-the-head Oakley sunglasses made famous by Trinidadian Olympian Ato Boldon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The space located at 21 Rue du Sentier will also offer more recent options such as tops from Japanese label Doublet and the aptly-named spring 2022 Balenciaga “Raver” denim skirt rife with metal details, loops and zippers.
Merch from Boiler Room, as well as a limited-edition three-way collaboration between Grailed, the music platform and sportswear label Champion, will also be sold at the pop-up.
Prices start around 25 euros for a vintage T-shirt and over 5,000 euros for a never-released pair of Adidas Samba sneakers in collaboration with streetwear label Been Trill.
The futuristic Oakley Over The Head sunglasses.
Courtesy of Grailed
For Grailed, there’s no period that better epitomizes its most successful categories of high-end fashion and affordable vintage finds than the ‘90s rave era, according to global brand marketing director Lexi Tollefsen.
Coming together for an in-person event was a way to bring down the symbolic boundaries – the digital format for Grailed, show tickets for Boiler Room – of both communities, she added.
On the music side, performances by up-and-coming artists are scheduled throughout the pop-up, with the in-store mixing table also available for visitors to spin tunes.
But the highlight of the three-day event will be a party on June 21, coinciding with the city’s Fête de la Musique.
During a visit for the men’s shows, Evey had been doubly impressed by the joyful atmosphere of the all-day citywide music festival launched in 1982 by then-French culture minister Jack Lang and composer Maurice Fleuret that has since turned into a global celebration of music in more than 120 countries.
Jeremy Scott x Linda Farrow sunglasses
Courtesy of Grailed
The experience left such an impact that Evey and Grailed commissioned photographer Ryan Molnar to capture the style and vibe of the Paris music event, and hosted a party with streetwear label Slam Jam last year.
“There’s such a great energy that happens in Paris in the summer. It really becomes this nexus for more than fashion [where] music and culture and art are happening,” he said. “It’s always so vibrant. With the Fête de la Musique happening during [the men’s shows] it felt like a no-brainer because we really play with that Venn diagram of style and music.”