Imitation of Christ Spring 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection

In reaction to that debacle, the designer, who is also a director and fine artist, shot a terrifying film about “the ever-present war on women’s bodily autonomy” at The Hole in Los Angeles, featuring “pregnant” models (they wore prosthetics) and movie prop guns. Called Last Looks, the actors wear the repurposed garments that make up part of IOC’s spring 2023 collection, in which the standout pieces were in the images you see here—stills from that video, which was created at the start of September.

Subkoff had no plans to show at New York Fashion Week until she was invited to collaborate with New York Communities for Change with whom she hosted an “Oil is Death” “fashion protest” at which activists and Subkoff’s dancer friends wore the reworked pieces as well as those from the embroidered upcycled cotton program. There is an alignment between Subkoff’s values and those of the protesters, which, she said, “is trying to evoke and create real change for everyone. To me,” she continued, “that seems like something much more important to celebrate than ‘Do you like this, or do you like that?’” referencing the Y2K videos on TikTok. Like many people, Subkoff has been questioning what the role of fashion is and has concluded that “it feels necessary when it’s combined with cause-based projects and as a platform to raise awareness.”

Subkoff is not only interested in big topics like climate change and reproductive rights, but also creative freedom and self acceptance. In her view the aughts revival is all surface, no substance. Overhearing our conversation, the illustrator Jeffrey Fulvimari  (who appeared in a 1996 cK One ad) contributed his thoughts on the omnipresent ’00s revival. “You can’t have the choker without the context,” he said. For Fulvimari, the fashions of the time were “a distillation of punk.” He thinks that rather than be decontextualized, the values of the time—not just the aesthetics—should be revisited. 

When IOC started back in 2000, vintage was not yet normalized, and the brand wasn’t showing pristine historical garments either, but ones that showed their wear. The spring 2023 collection, which is less cohesive than others, is “very much in the vein of the original OG Imitation Y2K fashion of 2000, which is Situationist theory, punk rock feeling, and the idea of making a spectacle,” said Subkoff. “Situationist culture was very much about protesting, but the way that you would protest was you would make a spectacle so that people would pay attention to what you were saying. And that’s very much what we’ve been doing the whole time. If you want to recycle Y2K fashion,” Subkoff added, “then understand the confidence that came with that, understand the power that came with that. We didn’t care what anyone said, or thought, in fact it was totally the opposite of that.” IOC keeps that rage against the machine alive.