The Radical Papers: METANOIA
AW25

Backstory. 1994.

Erich Bon Brugal, a 29-year-old Dominican-Swiss physicist, was pursuing his PhD at the prestigious University of Zurich when he received an anonymous invitation to the Santa Fe Institute. The letter came through a mysterious subdivision called the “Gnostic Visionary Cell.” It spoke of a revolution in physics—something akin to the rise of jazz in New Orleans, the surrealist prose in Parisian cafés, or hip-hop in the Bronx. A movement young physicists were calling The Radical Papers, which promised to outline a Radical Metaphysics.

On December 15, 1994, Bon Brugal arrived at 410 S. Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico, clutching an essay that had earned him some recognition. He was picked up by an unmarked vehicle and taken to Los Alamos. No one heard from him again.

A local sculptor claimed to have spotted a man who resembled Bon Brugal at El Parasol. The man was unnervingly pale, dressed entirely in black, and had a “123” stamped on the back of his crewneck. The server who served him a carnitas burrito with Christmas chile asked.

Father Agency,
Spring / Summer 2025

With every new collection, we have presented a new entity. It is as if a new brand, with a new language and a new statement has been engendered. For Rivington, ‘father agency’ became not only a new branding expression, but the philosophy of creation distilled in tangible form. Father, as the creator of culture.
I wanted to explore ‘agency’. The sense of control one might feel over one’s own life. The extent and capacity to influence our own thoughts and behaviors.

Most of my collections, as well as art produced surrounding a given collection has served me as something akin to a vehicle of exploration into what is called ‘gnosis’. We, human beings, the species that create and destroy, the ruling species, the ones that have taken command and to whom the god of genesis gave dominion over the land and sea, is the same species that has taken such dominion as a deflecting mechanism, never to have to face the fact that he has no dominion over his own self.

This collection is a direct message from the heir. Inside of this collection we will find motifs, symbols and messages that call for a new wave. A new way of thinking, all of the while utilizing very old logos and symbols. What started in a garden and ended in a city is a story of great psychological importance.

RRR x Fear of God

The Enemy,
Fall / Winter 2024

In the act of unveiling this collection, one feels the weight of an intimate farewell — a reckoning of identity marked by both resolve and relinquishment. “I felt as if I was now, for the last time, introducing myself.” These words, borrowed from the very essence of Rivington’s ethos, hover like a lament in the air, as if the artist, after years of self-exploration, is closing a final chapter. It is not simply a collection of clothing, but a manifesto — a reawakening of what once was, but now, with purpose, must
be abandoned.

Here, the boundaries of the familiar are deliberately blurred. Rivington’s graphic language, once rooted in the raw rebellion of streetwear, evolves with maturity, embracing a tension between old-world craftsmanship and modern defiance. “FORGIVE ME FATHER FOR I MUST WIN”, “GOLGOTHA GOTH”, “GOD LIKES UGLY” — slogans that are both self-aware and unapologetic, rendered in bold, authoritative typography, stretched across double-layered T-shirts and canvas bomber jackets. The juxtaposition of these blunt declarations with the soft, tactile textures of the garments invites reflection on the intersection between public image and private conviction.

In this collection, the designer does not simply pivot; he transcends. The introduction of tailored pieces — the sharpness of a crisp blazer, the quiet authority of a perfectly draped coat — serves as an elegant rebellion against the very fabric of streetwear itself. Gone are the boxy T-shirts and “Made in LA” uniformity; they are replaced with silhouettes that breathe and move with an altogether different intention. A ruched tweed coat, the very embodiment of paradox, stands as the crowning gesture — a quiet statement of refinement amidst the chaos, a beautiful betrayal of the aesthetic once celebrated.

This is a collection that casts aside the formulaic for a new, darker, and more sophisticated vision. It is at once a rejection and an evolution, where each piece is both a parting gesture and an invitation to the future. As the collection unfurls, one is left to ponder the depths of self-definition and reinvention — a final, decisive introduction of oneself, not just to the world, but to the self that has, at last, come into its own.

GymGnostic
Spring / Summer 24