August Barron’s Glitzy Hollywood Fever Dream

Courtesy of August Barron

When I arrive at August Barron’s showroom in the 19th Arrondissement for a preview of the SS27 collection “Walk of Fame,” the designers are nowhere in sight, and all I can hear is the drone of a saxophone in the distance. But I’ve already read the press release, and the collection—as delightfully chaotic as ever—needs no introduction.

My eyes scroll over crystal-encrusted platforms reminiscent of ’70s stripper heels before locking in on a pair of severed metallic dresses protruding from the overstuffed racks that line the room. That must be the “fur,” I think as I wander over to the window to stroke a collar made from sparkling glass beads. It’s a humble studio, but according to their PR, the real work happens upstairs at the brand’s newly acquired atelier. Moments later, the boys appear: Bror August Vestbø in his classic aviator glasses, and Benjamin Barron in a muted yellow polo from their last collection. “We just had our first breath of fresh air today,” Vestbø tells me. It’s time to get back to work.

Over the past 10 years, Barron and Vestbø have been on a mission to share with the masses their pop-inflected ruminations on the contradictions of archetypical womanhood. It started in New York with a merch line for All-In, a fashion magazine founded by Barron, a photographer and creative director. Later, it transformed into a full-fledged fashion line thanks to a partnership with his designer boyfriend-cum-business partner Vestbø. (The brand was renamed August Barron last year.) Three runway shows, five lookbooks, a move to Paris, and a run at the LVMH Prize later, the duo is officially helming one of the industry’s buzziest labels, all while maintaining an independent, limited-edition print publication.

WWD

Bror August Vestbø and Benjamin Barron at the LVMH Prize 2025 Awards

Maryam Nassir Zadeh, a beacon of New York’s cool, was an early client. Chloë Sevigny is also an ardent supporter; she wore an asymmetrically warped pink silk minidress from the Fall 2025 “Downtown Girl” collection to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in October of last year. Pop star fans include Addison Rae, Sky Ferreira, Caroline Polachek, and, of course, Charli xcx, who wore a cinched leather jacket from their Spring 2026 collection to the VMAs last weekend.

In an era when rules for dressing are largely nonexistent, it’s up to designers to create tension where it doesn’t exist. For August Barron, the parameters are the spotlight, and the variables are the desperate, hyperfeminine characters they idealize within it. We saw it in 2023, when the brand courted virality with “ALLINA,” a boisterous runway show named after a fictional Y2K-esque pop star in which off-the-shoulder velour shirts were juxtaposed with glitter-embellished sweat shorts and skirts seemingly constructed from tank tops. And again last year with “Real Housewife,” a playful take on 1950s suburbia, rife with cupcake dresses and deconstructed cardigans.

This season is no different. “The starting point for ‘Walk of Fame’ was watching Sunset Boulevard last winter,” Barron tells me. “We wanted to do a show about Hollywood, but it’s so vast that we were like, ‘Let’s just collage references from the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, and ’70s together.’” The resulting collection looks like the spectacular wardrobe of a fictional starlet put through the Hollywood wringer: bomber jackets that slip off the shoulders, dresses that peel away from the body, and tiara-adorned Playboy bunny ears set askew. “It’s about someone who’s either had fame and is clinging onto it—or hoping for it, but the performance might not even happen,” Barron continues.

Courtesy of August Barron

“Walk of Fame” may be less overtly girly than August Barron’s previous collections (there are plenty of muted tones, plus an oversized eyewear collaboration with Port Tanger inspired by the seedy, hypermasculine adult film directors of yesteryear), but it plays with femininity via outrageous proportions. For example, there’s a dress suspended by long straps, so that the bust sits at the hips like a skirt, as well as a sheer floral-print negligee equipped with oversized breast and hip pads—as if the wearer recently completed a dramatic, Ozempic-fueled weight-loss journey.

It’s ironic that a young brand is poking fun at Hollywood in an era when fashion is increasingly reliant on celebrity co-signs, and vice versa, but the duo understands that part of their appeal is that they are unafraid to play into the pop pillars of vulgarity and reinvention. “At one point we were like, ‘Is “Walk of Fame” too similar [to SS24]?’” Vestbø says of the Hollywood-themed collection. “But pop culture is our biggest inspiration. Why would you go in a different direction to avoid something you love so much?”

Courtesy of August Barron

“I don’t want to say that our clothing is costumey,” says Vestbø. “But it’s more about character rather than how we think women should dress.” This might be attributed to the fact that the duo often envisions their theatrical late-night runway shows like movies. “You want to create a narrative and then use that as a guiding tool to figure out what you’re designing,” Barron says.

But they’re still considering sales. “It’s an interesting challenge to make performative clothing feel wearable and easy,” adds Vestbø. For example, “How do you make the fantasy of being a housewife feel cool and modern?”

The answer, in part, is working with “it” stylist and consultant Lotta Volkova, best known for her daring work at Miu Miu and Balenciaga. “Lotta has brought a lot to the way we work,” says Barron. “When we make something crazy, she’s often like, ‘What are we selling here?’” The clothes that make it into production are fairly avant-garde: slouchy knee-high boots, layered wool cardigans, sparkly pumps, and a few ready-to-wear accessories—including the Betty Bag, a Polly Pocket–esque purse that reappears on the runway this season with a ’60s floral motif.

It’s enough for them that the brand is self-sustaining. As for the creative part? That’s easy, they tell me—especially when you have a partner who is just as obsessed with fashion as you are.

Courtesy of August Barron

Our interview ends, and we ascend the stairs to the atelier. No sad saxophone here, just Crystal Castles playing on a small speaker and a hive of cute kids at work. A girl wearing coral lipstick and a bubblegum-hued midi skirt frets over a disco-ball-inspired gown while a pink-haired Zoomer inspects a recent delivery—a $15,000 Preciosa–encrusted dress that the designers assure me was sponsored. Six hands unwrap the delicate package and place it on a form while Vestbø tends to the styling. It reminds me of Paris Hilton’s infamous rhinestone birthday dress, only this one has a distinct Jazz Age silhouette—a Hollywood miracle indeed.

Source link