Without a formal education in fashion and design, Raefski has put together a team of autodidacts, with a learn-as-you-go moto, and launched his namesake label out of his dorm room in 2020.
“Meet Me By The Bleachers”, Raefski’s second full-scale collection, marked his first appearance on the NYFW calendar with New York Men’s Day in February 2022.
The Stars Don’t Look Bigger, But They Do Look Brighter
This collection is the third and last chapter of an introspection Nicholas started two seasons ago. His “Go West Young Boy and Become a Man” SS22 Collection was an acceptance of the man he had become, his “Meet Me By The Bleachers” FW22 Collection explored false nostalgia and jejunity archetypes.
Flipping the script from his past 2 seasons, the Spring/Summer 2023 projects an optimistic future, imagined from a somehow/somewhat, still uncertain, present. Set in a fictional retro-futuristic spaceship hotel bar, Raefski frames an assured future: one of promise, adventure, and endless frontiers.
The 12 Look collection, divided in 4 divergent archetypal groups - the crew of the ship, the guests of the ship, the robots of the ship, and the “other” – is grounded in the aesthetic of the optimistic 1950-60s. Nicholas scaffolds his current uncertainties with the discipline of retro-futurism; a critical time period where optimism triumphed over hopelessness; an embodiment of the design philosophy behind the label itself.
The future may not always be as straightforward as we envision it. But there is value to be had in the feelings and emotions it evokes. In unwinding the complexities of nostalgia and the cosmos, Raefski sees a guiding light:
“This collection is very closely tied to where I am personally. I’m at a point where I face a lot of uncertainty on a day-to-day basis, but I have the utmost confidence that, in the future, everything is going to work out.”
As he builds and creates his own path, Nicolas Raefski knows that the man he wants to become already exists - he does not need to find that person, just grow into him.
