VFILES has revealed the star-powered panel for its spring/summer 2017 season, otherwise known as VFILES Season 7. Once again, VFILES is crowdsourcing its entire show and has enlisted a panel of talented people to guide the designers, makeup artists, and stylists involved. This year's panel includes none other than Young Thug, legendary supermodel Naomi Campbell, Fear of God's Jerry Lorenzo, stylist Mel Ottenberg (who has worked with Rihanna, amongst others), and makeup artist Pat McGrath.
The most noteworthy selection among the panel members, at least from our perspective, is Young Thug. In the past, VFILES' panels have included accomplished designers (Calvin Klein's former menswear head Italo Zucchelli) and important people from the magazine world (Dirk Standen, digital creative director at W Magazine), but the inclusion of a rapper—albeit an incredibly fashionable one—is new territory for VFILES.
"Young Thug brings an incredible vision to the table," VFILES founder Julie Anne Quay told Complex. "His approach to our collaboration was very thoughtful and respectful of the work we reviewed together."
Quay also explained why it was so important to have Thugger on this season's panel. "I think he is going to have a major impact on the way fashion and music come together in the future as he looks through a lens that is totally unfiltered and not subjected to pre-existing paradigms of how one should approach they way they dress," she explained. "His approach to gender fluidity is a very powerful moment I think for fashion because it is connected to his approach to music and the message he shares through that medium."
A unique perspective like Thugger's is a running theme throughout all the panelists. "We are incredibly excited to be consulting with Naomi, Pat, Jerry, Mel, and Jeffery as we prep for the seventh season of VFILES Runway," Quay said in a press release. "Each has an incredible vision and are also not scared to take risks where moving fashion forward is concerned. Fashion today belongs to the risk takers and those who will push the boundaries of their ideas and how they are communicated."
VFILES also promised, via press release, that it will once again have young artists performing during the runway show. Past presentations featured Tyga, Migos, and A-Trak—could we get a performance from panel member Young Thug this year?
VFILES Season 7 will take place on Sept. 7, 2016 at 8:00 p.m
