Raul Lopez’s Luar Reminds Fashion Who It’s For

While an unnerving news cycle loomed over the February shows and many designers alluded to the “tough times” [financial or cultural] or ignored them entirely, opting for an escape, Raul Lopez stepped up to the critical moment with a Luar F/W 25 collection that made a statement on the encroaching threats to the LGBT+ and immigrant community. Titled El Pato, a word that means “duck” or “swan” in Spanish but has long been weaponized as a homophobic slur, the show reclaimed the insult with powerful storytelling, opening to the haunting lyrics of Willie Colón’s El Gran Varón and built as an homage to the queer icons Lopez grew up admiring. Cutting through the noise with raw elegance and unapologetic defiance, Lopez’s brand has become the heartbeat of the Downtown fashion sect, delivering a runway lineup rooted in cocooning wool tailoring, python-printed asymmetry, and extravagantly feathered silhouettes. With playful yet direct messages like “I Talk Shit About You In Spanish,” the collection boldly confronted the darkness head-on with unapologetic flair, pomp, and circumstance. Never far from his club kid beginnings, Lopez also adeptly navigates collaboration, whether it’s a viral MAC x Luar Ana Artistry Bag that sold out in minutes or models rocking LUAR x Vitaly jewelry down the runway. It was a display that showed all the moving parts that make Luar an impressive creative force, like essential team members Keyla Exclusa and Jehan Vazifdar. Directed by Will Pippin at the now-storied WSA Building, Models.com went behind the scenes to witness Lopez’s process leading up to the show, the palpable backstage energy, and his reminder that LUAR isn’t building community, it is community.