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By: Zach Lee
September 24, 2024
Photo by: Layla Blue Rudolph
The Spring-Summer 2025 pieces lit up the runway - hair and makeup in particular were the highlights apart from the outfits themselves. As many aspects of Ben Doctor’s new line compared to last year’s have changed drastically (from retro-inspired to modern-derived), there were still many parallels between the two years of Ben Doctor lines - the bustling room full of exciting onlookers, the bright lights adorning beautiful strutting models, and the insightful designs that excite and are put into dialogue with today’s ever-evolving society. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ben himself for a chat about this year’s designs.
Photo by: Cat Marchenko
ZL: Hi Ben! Congratulations on year 2; tell us about the inspiration, background, and story of ROULETTE.
BD: Thank you so much. This year was a year of firsts. I’ve never gambled before and my boyfriend took me to a casino. I found it really fascinating, and also a good metaphor for life – running on hope and highs and lows, etc. The show drew its name and palette from this. I watched Black Swan for the first time too, so that also played a[massive] role in the inspiration.
ZL: Something that stuck out to me about ROULETTE that differed from last year’s Rotten Goodbye was the hair and makeup [on] the models this year. Rotten Goodbye’s look was retro, dark, slightly grungy, with a black smokey and uniform and stylized, sometimes gelled, hair. Meanwhile, ROULETTE features a deconstructed classy look with a silver eye shadow and very unconventional hairstyles. What was the difference in creative process between these two lines? And how does the hair and makeup extenuate their respective stories?
BD: Last year’s look was heavily influenced by a specific Mod style and archetype look of the 60s. So we had this very clear historical reference in mind. This year was definitely different, and the hair and makeup was a synthesis of things – a kind of stage makeup engineered by Iona similar to what’s seen in Black Swan, and then the hair was this attempt to depict a bird that had been caught in an oil spill, which was executed through Kam’s genius.
ZL: Your designs feel simultaneously counter-mainstream, but relevant at the same time. Where do you draw inspiration from? Who are some pioneers or contemporaries that you look to?
BD: Thank you that’s so affirming to hear. I think like everyone else I’m so inspired by John Galliano and Lee McQueen. I love showmanship and the idea of coming together to experience glamour, and storytelling. Fashion can feel very empty and depressing to me sometimes so I feel like I look to older shows often to see how they were really able to ignite an audience and make people feel something.
Photos by: Cat Marchenko
ZL: How do you see the BEN DOCTOR line, specifically ROULETTE, in relation to other designers and creatives like yourself taking part in NYFW?
BD: I love being alongside my peers and friends during New York Fashion Week. A lot of us help each other and cheer each other on, and the community of small designers is strong. This is one of the things that keeps me in New York despite the rent. For the brand, my biggest hope is that the powers that be allow me to continue to put on shows. And after this fashion week, it means trying to build out an assortment to bring to market. I feel optimistic for the first time in a while, and the show brings out that.
ZL: Last year, you spoke about how a lot of your work is made as an ode to New York and the people of New York. How has that continued to resonate with your art (if it has) and has it evolved through your designs?
BD: Yes I think the same is true for this season. I make clothes about what I know which is life in New York and how it feels being in your mid-20s – really confusing, at times full of hopelessness and desperation to “make it”. I think this year is a bit darker. I’m talking more about the temptation of giving up on yourself when looking to the future. Last year was a bit brighter, more about rose-colored glasses.
Photo by: Cat Marchenko
ZL: A big part of a runway show are the models that display the designs. How did you cast your models? What features and specifics about the individuals and their energy were important for you to discover and showcase as the designer?
BD: Oh my god it’s really all thanks to Ti and Maya who are good friends of ours who cast the show each year. They have an incredible eye and point of view on who the Ben Doctor girl is. Each model is a Person who has a certain character and personality to them. But together they tell this amazing story where they all bring something a little different from one another, which I love. You can kind of start to tell who brings the “IT” factor, and personality is a huge part of putting on a good show I think.
ZL: Many designers have a signature style or mission statement in the clothing they present to the public. As a young creative, you’ve been very present on the scene for 2+ years. How would you describe the aura you’ve cultivated for yourself? How do you see it, and how would you like offers to perceive your brand?
BD: I want to build this kind of language of glamor in your experience. I think real STYLE and coolness comes from a brutal and unapologetic authenticity. Clothing is storytelling whether people acknowledge it or not, and I hope other people can see the brand as something a bit brutal, but chic and fun. Which to me is the essence of New York.
ZL: Along a similar thread of consciousness, what is the mission statement and intention of ROULETTE? Could you speak more to the White Swan / Swan Lake inspiration (the ideas of struggle and rebirth) and its relevance to you in your life?
BD: The show follows a story similar to that of Natalie Portman’s character in Black Swan, where in her innocence she comes face to face with her own perfectionism, neurosis, death etc. And I sort of wanted to rewrite this so that it was a bit more optimistic. Maybe instead of death she takes a chance on life. And in the same way we all, myself included, make a conscious choice to stay here, wake up, go to work etc. I think for me the idea of running away from your life is very seductive. But coming to the realization that you have the power to change your values and your way of thinking is transformative.
ZL: I also would like to talk about music- a fundamental part of a runway show. You spoke about how Whitney Houston and Britney Spears were musical influences of this year’s work. Could you speak more to that and how you see the relationship between fashion and music in your designs and in the fashion industry?
BD: The music wasn’t much influenced by those two, but they are famous examples of being chewed up and spat out by our culture. The song “Stock Exchange Woman” by Miss Kitten and the Hacker, and also “Dirty Cash” by Adventures of Stevie V were sampled for the runway. They both had this message of your own self being currency, and this definitely relates to icons like Britney [Spears] and Whitney [Houston]. And also, our own experience with seeing yourself as a form of currency to be exploited and consumed.
ZL: What is next for you? Have you given thoughts to next year’s line?
BD: Hopefully the next thing is for me to keep making work! I am constantly in fear that I’ll be so destitute I won’t be able to make another collection. But that’s not true there will always be another show one day. I haven’t given the next one much thought, but I’m planning on producing a lot of the styles from this collection, and hopefully that will fund the next one, and so on.
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