LOVE, LUST AND DISCO IN THE AMERICAN WEST - “ELECTRICA PRIMULA” IS THE SIXTH COLLECTION FROM LOS ANGELES DESIGNER LABEL KEISER CLARK. WITH THE NEW COLLECTION CREATIVE DIRECTOR MARC KEISER TAKES US INTO THE NIGHT UP INTERSTATE 15 TOWARDS THE NEON BUZZ OF OLD VEGAS, GETTING US LOST IN A FOUR-ON-THE-FLOOR RHYTHM AND FINDING LOVE, LUST AND HEARTBREAK ON A DANCEFLOOR.
RETURNING TO THE MIDNIGHT HOURS OF KEISER CLARK’S NEO-NOIR AESTHETIC “ELECTRICA PRIMULA” FEELS WHOLISTICALLY A RETURN TO THE GRITTY NOCTURNAL GLAMOUR AT THE HEART OF KEISER CLARK. WITH A BASSLINE ROOTED IN THE BRAVADO OF THE OLD CALIFORNIAN WEST AND A HARMONY TIED TO THE ELECTRIC FLARE OF THE ‘70S AND ‘80S DISCO-CLUB SCENE, THE COLLECTION SERVES AS A BALLAD TO LOVE FOUND AND LOST IN THE DISCOTHÈQUE.
SET AMONGST THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF THE OLD VEGAS STRIP, AND DESIGNED WITH A HEAVY DISCO ANTHEM PLAYLIST AND A BOTTLE OF MAKER’S, THE COLLECTION SERVES AS A NOD TO THE COUNTRY MUSIC KEISER LISTENED TO GROWING UP AND THE DISCO AND ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC HE GETS LOST IN TODAY. “OLD VEGAS MEETS STUDIO 54,” SAYS KEISER. I GREW UP WITH VOICES LIKE SHANIA TWAIN, GARTH BROOKS, AND FAITH HILL PLAYING ON THE STEREO, BUT AS I GREW UP, I FOUND A NEW LOVE FOR DISCO AND THE MODERN-DAY VERSION OF IT WITH ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC. A GENRE ROOTED IN MOVEMENT, A COLLECTIVE HEARTBEAT, AND A SHARED
RHYTHM, A MUSIC THAT CONSUMES AND MOVES YOU, AND SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE BASSLINE AND THE HARMONY YOU ESCAPE IN THE GROOVE.
I WAS GOING THROUGH THIS CATALOG OF OLD PHOTOS FROM STUDIO 54 AND THERE WAS THIS INCREDIBLE PHOTO OF BIANCA JAGGER ON A WHITE HORSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CLUB. A DISCO BALL ON THE CEILING, LIGHTS FLASHING, MUSIC THUMPING, THAT ELECTRIC CROWD OF PEOPLE, AND A HORSE. THERE WAS A BEAUTIFUL JUXTAPOSITION BETWEEN THE HORSE AND THE CLUB THAT MADE THE PHOTO SO ICONIC. “I WANTED THE COLLECTION TO HAVE THAT SAME TENSION BETWEEN THE OLD WEST AND THE NU DISCO A SORT OF RUGGED-FLUIDITY BETWEEN THE TWO AMERICAN SUBCULTURES,” SAYS KEISER.
THIS TENSION TOOK HOLD THROUGHOUT THE COLLECTION AS RUGGED BLACK DENIM AND COOL NYLONS ARE CUT AGAINST LUSH “FUR” AND SILKY SATINS; CLASSIC AMERICAN CUTS AND WESTERN MOTIFS ARE ENERGIZED WITH METALLIC AND BROKEN HEART EMBELLISHMENTS; AND MIDNIGHT BLACK AND SANDY BROWN TONES CONTRAST WITH METALLIC STEEL ROSE AND NEON PINK HUES.
KEY PIECES FROM THE COLLECTION INCLUDE A STEEL ROSE FULL-LENGTH “FUR” COAT THAT TRANSFORMS INTO A SADDLE BAG OFFERING FIVE PIECES IN ONE, A BUTTERY LAMBKIN SUEDE BOMBER AND LONG HAIR WOOL VEST IN SANDY BROWN, AND A REMOVEABLE FRINGE TRUCKER SET IN BLACK DENIM. TRANSFORMABLE OUTERWEAR, OPT-IN FLARED BOTTOMS, AND LEATHER APPLIQUE ARE KEY DESIGN ELEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE COLLECTION. TEXTURAL ELEMENTS REIGN SUPREME THROUGHOUT THE COLLECTION, AS KEISER CONTINUES TO TAKE US FURTHER INTO THE BLINDING NEON LIGHTS WITH “ELECTRICA PRIMULA.”
