Gypsy Sport

There are so many aesthetic touch points that come to mind when talking about Gypsy Sport: provoking, bizarre, underground, homespun, gender-nonconforming, beautiful and uplifting. They all converge organically in Rio Uribe’s inclusive world, whose hallmark for the past year has been eco-consciousness and sustainability. On the surface, his clothes are fun and born from creative collaboration with models and friends; yet there’s also a serious consideration for both the environment and supporting artisanal handcraft.

His spring collection was all about vacation wear, brimming with animal prints, flowy silhouettes and lots of exposed skin.

“The collection is inspired by vacation, or wanting to be on vacation,” Uribe noted post-show, adding: “We basically put out all of the bestsellers from the last couple years with different iterations, fabrications, colorways. It was animal prints, florals, everything that’s expected for spring, but the Gypsy Sport version of that.”

Pretty straightforward, no? Not exactly when you consider that 80 percent of the collection is upcycled, made from excess materials from Levi’s and Swarovski, among other companies with excess materials, that would have otherwise been discarded, and that even bestsellers are all recycled cut-and-sew. Silhouettes are familiar, but reimagined through collaboration to ensure he’s creating a wardrobe people actually want to wear, versus just what he wants to see people wearing. There were men in mini dresses or cargo pants slung way low, a streetwear approach to patchwork construction through sweatshirts and long dresses, and deconstructed, torn-up tops over embellished denim. More conceptual and less straightforward were the handful of ambiguous, animalistic models whose bodies were fully painted with biodegradable glitter made of algae and seaweed (because why not?).

Customers have responded really well to the brand’s artisanal shift, too, and for good reason. The element of labor-intensive handcraft and embroidery is alluring and personal, drawing in more private clients who want custom orders with a side of street.

“It’s really nice to have customers who are supportive of my work, and that’s honestly the only way this is possible,” Uribe concluded.