The American artist Cy Twombly was born in Virginia, but moved to Rome before turning 30, making the Italian capital his primary residence. During this time, Twombly developed his distinctly modern style surrounded by classical works, finding inspiration in Greek myths and reinterpreting their original antique depictions with his own sensibility.
“He was this American in Rome surrounded by the most titanic pieces of art,” said Luke Meier on a recent call, “yet he still developed his own style while having one foot into the classics.”
The Vancouver-born Meier is a fellow North American who, after time in New York, moved his practice to Italy. Like Twombly’s, his style is decidedly modern despite—or perhaps because of—his own classical sartorial environment. Meier found inspiration in Twombly’s life and work for his spring 2024 lineup for OAMC.
More broadly, Meier explained, he was ruminating on the experience of the expat, and the effect that living abroad can have on a person. “I’m definitely not Italian, not in mentality or in approach,” said Meier, “but it creeps in on you.” Meier’s clothes have a contemporary appeal that can be described as American—chalk that up to his time at Supreme. Yet his work both at OAMC and at Jil Sander, alongside his wife Lucie, has developed a softness and lightness over time. Something similar could be said about Twombly’s work, which became more emotional after his time in Italy.
Meier noted that access to the best mills and factories has allowed his work to evolve. That’s most evident in his tailoring, which was cut amply—unlike elsewhere at the fall men’s shows—and with sharpness in the line, but with a sense of weightlessness. See also his ripstop and nylon separates and the plushness of his knitwear, which was elegant while remaining despite casual. Graphic touches came in the form of a diffused floral and prints of maps of Rome and Lexington, Virginia, though more compelling were the gestural scribbles, reminiscent of Twombly’s hand, that Meier placed on sleeves and the sides of coats.
The epigraph to Meier’s collection notes this season reads: “Once I said to my mother: ‘You would be happy if I just kept well-dressed and had good manners,’ and she said: ‘What else is there?’” That’s a quote from Twombly, though Meier is aligned with it. “Elegance is something that I think is fleeting at the moment,” he said, lamenting how our need for speed has made us less graceful in our interactions with people.
It’s true that we could all be a little bit more elegant in the way we carry ourselves today. It’s paradoxical to find TikTok and fashion currently fascinated with wealth and its stylistic signifiers and offering ideas of sophisticated dressing when refinement should go beyond one’s clothes. “We are all here optimizing views, content, and clicks,” said Meier. “We want everything faster, yet expect a perfectly tailored jacket.” Luxury takes time. Elegance does, too.
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