“I Need My Titties Out”: Raul Lopez and Kyle Luu on Luar FW25

Ahead of the flamboyantly political Luar FW25 show, “El Pato,” Interview editors Mel Ottenberg and Taylore Scarabelli took a trip to the New York brand’s atelier to talk fashion faux pas, feathers, and reclaiming the f-slur with creative director Raul Lopez and his longterm collaborator, the stylist and designer Kyle Luu.

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TAYLORE SCARABELLI: Okay, we’re only on the record now. I’m putting the Lady Dior on the ground.

KYLE LUU: That’s bad luck. Pick it up.

RAUL LOPEZ: Bitch, we will kill you in this office. You do not put bags on the floor.

SCARABELLI: I know, I’m sorry. Faux pas. [Laughs] But what’s happening? Today is the day before the show?

LUU: Today is our last day of fittings.

LOPEZ: The show is tomorrow. Kyle and the team are getting the girls dressed. Fit to confirm. 

LUU: Clothing their loins.

LOPEZ: We’re just in the midst of it, trying to get everything together. It’s a fun season. I think this one hits home, because it’s called “El Pato,” which is a slur they used to call me. In reality, the word means duck or swan, but in Williamsburg, which was predominantly Puerto Rican, it’s like a Puerto Rican slur for gay people. It means faggot. So it’s this whole thing of reclaiming “El Pato.” Especially right now, I feel like it’s so necessary. I’ve been here before. I fought already. I know what’s up. It’s an homage to that era. There’s a pattern of a silhouette where your hands stay like this. [Gestures with hands out in front of him]

SCARABELLI: In front of you.

LOPEZ: Yeah. It’s like how they always make fun of gay boys like, “Your hand is like this.” 

SCARABELLI: The limp wrist.

LOPEZ: And then the feathers. I didn’t want to do them too literal, so they’re in the boots and some jackets. These are a crushed feather fabric. But I was telling Kyle and she was kind of like, “Okay, I get it. It’s very you.” Right?

LUU: Yeah. This season there’s a lot of animalistic elements, and I think the challenge was getting it to a point where it didn’t look Burning Man. You know?

SCARABELLI: It’s dangerous territory.

LUU: Yeah. Wearing pelts on your head and stuff. So we really went back to our roots of being DIY girls and being crafty, highlighting some of the more beady elements. We have some references. Can you guys pull up the headpiece? It’s like this collage of feathers and beading and a lot of tape, because that is a natural thing to do when you’re broke and have to figure out a solution. It feels very real to this story. You just take what you have in the house and kind of—

LOPEZ: Zhuzh yourself up.

LUU: And when you’re bald, you need some bangs. You need a little oomph.

SCARABELLI: It’s a DIY wig.

LUU: Yeah, that’s our DIY wig this season. 

LOPEZ: It’s also very true to my story. I mean, I started with duct tape. All my collections were made out of duct tape from Home Depot. [Laughs]

LUU: That’s a very important thing.

SCARABELLI: The foundation of the community, duct tape.

LOPEZ: It’s tucking. You know? And duct tape is such a thing of that era. A lot of it is, like we have Stephanie Milan, who’s walking the show, who’s an icon in ballroom. This look is very her. Shes wearing a fur. She’s Colombian, came to the States when she was 18, was working the stroll on 14th street when it was like a dump. Married the rich man. Gazillionaire. She lived with him for 30 years, and then he got dementia. His kids came around, took her off the will, and then she lost everything. And I think it’s such a beautiful immigrant story. Everybody came here with the same motive of hustling and making a better life for themselves, even with ballroom, and I wanted to highlight that. That’s where this gayness of mine actually started flourishing. You’ve got to put your best foot forward, and you’ve got to look the best when you step out. And a lot of these textures and textiles are things are very influential in that scene. 

LUU: Yeah. We’ve been telling her story for years, and this season felt very aligned with it, so I thought it was important to have her walk in the show.

LOPEZ: Kyle was like, “She needs to walk.”

LUU: It was the perfect time to bring her out and give her her flowers.

LOPEZ: I mean, she walked in and the first thing she said was, “Pato!” And I was like, “Girl, that’s the name of the collection.” She’s like, “Shut up.” She’s just exactly what you would think. She’s so over the top. She got into the stories in front of the kids, and she was like, “He was always the one who hung out with all the trans girls while we were all working in the hotels.” They would throw the envelopes over the curtains. I’m in the tub, counting the money. They hear me tell stories, but to hear it from the horse’s mouth was kind of amazing. She had a faja on from here to here when she came in. She was like, “I need my titties out.”

LUU: And she’s going to have her tits out.

LOPEZ: Yeah. We made these pasties. But she was like, “I need an underwire moment. You still don’t know how to design.” [Laughs] She’s like, “You was just a faggot with trannies. You think you’re big shit now, bitch.” And I was like, “Period. That’s what I want to hear.” 

SCARABELLI: She knows her parameters.

LOPEZ: And that’s what she’s known for. When she walks in ballroom, she wins grand prize all the time. She’s a hall of famer. She walks Labels.

LUU: Her closet is disgusting.

LOPEZ: She made La Perla what La Perla is. That was her thing. Because in ballroom, nobody said their underwear. And she would be like, “My underwear is La Perla.” She just gets it. Her styling is so fab.

SCARABELLI: I mean, this also sounds like you two, too.

LOPEZ: Yeah, they kind of made me who I am. They’re the prototypes of the blueprints. When I start, I begin with doing my thing at home and going crazy and collaging and sketching. And then Kyle starts coming in like, “Let’s do this, let’s do that.” Kyle has a very iron fist. [Laughs] She likes to chop a lot. 

SCARABELLI: How do you do that? Do you know exactly how to talk to Raul so he doesn’t get offended, or do you not care?

LOPEZ: No, I respect her, and when I hire somebody, I just let you do you. If I have you here it’s because I believe in you, and I know that you’re not trying to make me look bad. I trust her taste level, and we’ve known each other for so long. She’ll be like, “Sis, we should cut this, make it shorter,” or, “I wouldn’t show this, we should add this.” It’s good to have that. Because in your head, you’re just designing whatever you want, but sometimes you need somebody to reel you in.

LUU: I think part of my job is to be someone’s blind spot and make sure that we are reeling it back if it feels like it’s going left.

LOPEZ: [Model walks in] Do you like this?

LUU: I do, but with a different trouser, the balloon ones. 

LOPEZ: Okay. Can I see you walk really quick?

MODEL: Yes.

LOPEZ: Nice strong walk.

MEL OTTENBERG: Hey guys.

LOPEZ: Hi, mama.

LUU: Hi Mel. How are you?

LOPEZ: So she’ll get the barrel pant in alpaca gray. They’re making them, right Sabrina?

SABRINA ARROYAVE: Yeah.

SCARABELLI: I wanted to hear more of Kyle’s angle on how you work together on those sensitivities.

LOPEZ: So she bullies me.

LUU: I bully her, and he fists me and then I birth a child out my ass. [Laughs] No, I think the dialogue is always just very honest and open. If I can stop the car crash from happening, then I will. I’m one of those protestors that will sit in front of the car until you roll me over, and that is kind of my process, to be as honest as possible.

LOPEZ: And I prefer that. I hate yes-men.

LUU: I don’t want anybody second-guessing what they just sent out.

SCARABELLI: This is a total divergence, but I’ve been thinking about people leaving New York, and New York Fashion Week floundering a little bit. Will you stay here? Is that important to you? 

LOPEZ: Yeah, I think it is. I don’t need to go somewhere else to get light. I’ve been saying this for a while, but I’m really staying true to American fashion. Not saying that I wouldn’t do anything overseas, I would love to, but I come from a different old school New York. I ride for my city, and my city rides for me. So why would I turn my back on them? Especially right now, it’s very crucial to stick together here, and really show the world that American fashion still has it. 

SCARABELLI: Do we want to look through stuff?

LUU: Sure. This one is crazy.

LOPEZ: The people that do Schiaparelli worked with us, and they did all of our hand embellishments. This one is insane.

OTTENBERG: That’s really cool.

LOPEZ: It’s so fucking good. I’m up for the Woolmark Prize, and I always use a lot of wool, but I kind of wanted to play even more with it and show different versions. This is all tech wool.

OTTENBERG: Oh, wow.

LOPEZ: It’s super breathable. It’s this crazy technology. All of this looks very basic, but this is waterproof. It’s using wool in different ways besides the obvious, which is the baby alpaca wool suiting. It’s doing basics and classics but in my own way. You have these invisible zippers that kind of convert it into the Luar girl. You can be the Upper East Side girl and get into it, but also you’re going downtown, so you’re like, “Let me just open that up and get a little freaky for the kids.” I played with the hides, the leathers. We made this textile. It’s Japanese, and it’s supposed to kind of look like crushed feathers.

SCARABELLI: It does.

LOPEZ: These are these hats that I made. And this is a baby alpaca. This is my way of doing the Loro girl.  

OTTENBERG: This boot is hot.

LOPEZ: Thank you. I’m using a lot of natural fibers. That’s like the Stuart Weitzman girl. You got the long boot. She is the Hasidic girl on my block with the pleated skirt and the cardigan. With the wig that she got in Borough Park.

SCARABELLI: Oh my god.

LOPEZ: Our glasses are coming in now. I work with this family that does all my eyewear every season. They used to do all the licensing for Anna Sui and all the major brands. The son started this little division on the side that’s called Fellow Earthlings, and they use scrap acetate from the factories and compress it.

OTTENBERG: What’s the eyewear trend you believe in right now? 

LOPEZ: Everyone copied the double.

OTTENBERG: Eye roll. But also, that’s the way it should be, they should be copying Luar. But you should get a license.

LOPEZ: I know. 

OTTENBERG: How do you pay for all this stuff? Does this bag pay for the show?

LOPEZ: Yeah. And the clothes.

OTTENBERG: I like this really simple stuff too.

LOPEZ: Yeah. This is the Italian walking suit. It looks so good on a boy. It’s a very come-fuck-me suit.

OTTENBERG: I really gravitated towards it.

LOPEZ: And I love this Persian lamb skin.

OTTENBERG: This looks super bitchy too. What’s her shoe?

LOPEZ: She’s going to have the mule. We’re making these stockings wrapped with all this stuff. It’s like the gay boy whose mom went to work that wants to dress up with thigh-high boots, but only has his mom’s pumps, and then just wraps stuff all around his leg. 

OTTENBERG: I’m really into the ’80s moment going through the world right now. 

LOPEZ: Yeah. This barrel pant is kind of like a play on the ’80s for me. I also wanted to bring one button back. Opening up the breast area. And the pants.

SCARABELLI: Going a little skinny again.

LOPEZ: Yeah. I feel like this is how you should do Y2K. Like, we get the JNCOs, girl. Let’s move on. 

SCARABELLI: It’s really important that the ankle is loose.

OTTENBERG: In Y2K times, that didn’t exist, so I would cut the back and open it.

LOPEZ: Yes! I would get the pant at Trash and Vaudeville and add the panel. Because you don’t want to show the whole entire shoe, you want the sneak peek. I like a little flare.

OTTENBERG: How many more models are we seeing today?

LOPEZ: Like ten. [Points to model] Can I see you walk?