Chloë Sevigny and Fucking Awesome Celebrate a New Generation of Female Skaters
“There’s a real dearth of feminine cuts in skate wear so it’s really nice to be able to offer it.”
Despite a growing amount of female representation within skateboarding across the world, skatewear is still inherently male-skewed. Actor, director and designer Chloë Sevigny is out to change that, joining forces with Fucking Awesome to launch the brand’s debut womenswear collection.
Hoping to inspire and support a whole new generation of female skaters, the collection fuses FA’s signature skate aesthetic with considered design details and colorways, developed specifically with women’s bodies in mind. Alongside apparel, the new collection features re-release of the duo’s senior class portrait skate deck, which featured Sevigny’s face just over a decade ago. ”There’s a real dearth of feminine cuts in skate wear so it’s really nice to be able to offer it,” Sevigny tells Hypebae.
Speaking about the creative process and how it was adapted for womenswear, the designer spoke about “having to take breasts into account — like with the baby tee, where we put the lenticular patch. Because it’s sewn on, it had to be on an oversized shirt. If we put the patch on something smaller, it would stretch and bend in weird ways. With the FA across the ass of the shorts — we had to think about where that graphic was going to land so that it would be flattering,” she explains.
We caught up with Sevigny to find out more about how the collaboration came out, the inspiration behind the design process and what the future looks like for FA.
Scroll down to read the full interview.
Tell us a bit about how the collaboration with F-cking Awesome came about.
I originally met Jason Dill in the early aughts when he was on The Osbournes. I was immediately taken with him and knew he wasn’t how they were trying to portray him on the show. The editing really made him out to be kind of a villain, but he was so dynamic and I found his style insane and his skateboarding style insane. I was just obsessed, and we remained friends over the years. When he started the FA brand, he put together a really cute team and started releasing decks with school portraits for the team members — like Dylan Rieder and Sean Pablo. Bill Strobeck, who is a photographer and a friend of both of ours, suggested that they release a skateboard with my senior class portrait on it, so they approached me and I was like, “Yes! You know I love your brand and what you’re doing.” The idea of being on a skateboard is so cool because it was so much part of my youth.
Why did you want to be involved?
I wanted to be involved because I love the FA brand and I wanted to help them grow. I love seeing kids riding the original skateboard and you see it on eBay and I just wanted to be able to give more of the kids what they want. I’m endlessly inspired by skaters and young people. When FA originally released the skateboard and the T-shirt featuring my senior portrait, it became a mini-phenomenon and a very coveted item. I loved seeing it on kids around town and about 10 years later here we are. Mike and Dill wrote me and asked how I felt about doing a re-release and at first I wasn’t sure, but they wanted to do it along with a mini capsule collection with items for girls. That really piqued my interest because I always saw a real lack of cuts for girls produced by skate brands.
What was the creative process like when designing the collection? Where did you begin?
The skateboard was the first and most important item — it now has like a glittery pink background so it sets the tone. The new portrait T-shirt has a lenticular effect, with a portrait of me from fifth grade and then the classic senior portrait, which was on the original skateboard. I also wanted to do a baby tee and booty shorts and a little skirt. FA is really known for their knits so I said let’s tie it in and do a sweater vest, so it feels very back to school. I wear a lot of FA stuff and I trust the design team. I said I wanted to do a booty short, and I sent them some examples of shorts that I was into, as well as the baby tee. The skirt was actually one that I had altered myself, adding the eyelet, so I sent them mine to copy. Dill created this little patch, which is a black heart with the FA logo and I said let’s add a pink bow underneath. It’s very collaborative in the sense that Dill made a series of designs, then I would make choices and add elements, like the bow.
How important is it for the skate scene to have more womenswear?
I think representation is good, of course. I think options for all body types are good and are needed. There’s a real dearth of feminine cuts in skate wear so it’s really nice to be able to offer it. I loved adding in the pink and having a boy skating with a pink board was in keeping with what I love about the sport. What I love about FA is that it feels very rebellious. It’s hard and confrontational in its heart and edgy. We made these polos with the little black heart with the pink bow and I hope to see all kinds of kids wearing that.
What changes to the typical design process needed to be made with the brand as they pivoted to their first womenswear collection?
Just some basic things like having to take breasts into account — like with the baby tee, where we put the lenticular patch. Because it’s sewn on, it had to be on an oversized shirt. If we put the patch on something smaller, it would stretch and bend in weird ways. With the FA across the ass of the shorts — we had to think about where that graphic was going to land so that it would be flattering. It can’t be too high, it can’t be too low. So in general, just taking into account the shape of women’s bodies versus men’s.
Were there any surprises or elements you hadn’t considered?
I think some of the smaller details, like with the tags and the fact that they print the tag on the T-shirt. Some of those decisions were just made and I would have liked to have control over every single aspect, so that was one thing that was kind of surprising. When I did collections for Opening Ceremony in the past, I would design everything, including the hang tags.
What’s your favorite piece from the collection?
My favorite piece from the collection changes depending on the day. Some days I’m wearing a baby tee and some days I’m wearing a polo with the patch. Other days I want to wear the gray skirt as we move into fall, with beiges and whites. The collection leans very well into the fall season with its back-to-school aesthetic, although that is a perennial look for me!
Currently, the collection consists of seven core pieces alongside *that* famous skate deck. What can you tell us about the future of this partnership?
We’ll see how this goes. I love supporting small brands and helping to bring attention to them and to find new audiences. If this does well and there seems to be a desire for more, then maybe we’ll revisit.
The new Chloë Sevigny x Fucking Awesome collaboration is available to shop on the brand’s website.
