The opening images in the @ChristopherJohnRogers pre-fall 2023 lookbook are likely to prompt some doubletakes. Rogers, a designer for whom rainbow stripes are a defining signature, put together half a dozen looks for pre-fall devoid of color—as in zero ROYGBIV. The title he gave the collection, “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want to,” offers a hint about his new direction. Having captured the fashion world’s attention, Rogers seems to have set out to upend expectations. “What I’m after is autonomy, the ability to do what I want,” he told @NicolePhelps at an appointment in his lower Broadway studio. “The idea of play is paramount.” Cue the plastic clown noses and the towering silk clown hats created in collaboration with the milliner @PiersAtkinson. There’s even a Pierrot jumpsuit in the first grouping, with silk flowers in place of the characteristic pompons, though this isn’t so much a novelty as it is a callback. A pre-pandemic runway show closed with a different take on the look. Rogers doesn’t want to get boxed into any one category, but evening wear, inevitably, is his calling card. Tap the link in bio to see the collection and read Phelps’s full review.