For Spring/Summer 2027, Luar took New York Fashion Week beyond the traditional runway, presenting beneath the monumental Unisphere at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. For Raul Lopez, the location carried personal resonance, reflecting his connection to the borough and its queer nightlife while providing a striking backdrop for a collection rooted in history, identity, and reinvention.

Titled Christopher Street Columbus, the collection brings Tudor-era references into a contemporary, queer context, drawing a conceptual connection between Christopher Street’s history as a gay gathering place and Lopez’s Dominican heritage. Rather than treating history as something fixed, the designer explores clothing as a means of survival, self-expression, adaptation, and rebellion. Full pleated breeches are paired with double-breasted tailoring and sloping-shoulder biker jackets, while sharp coats, leather bodices with exaggerated sleeves, and track jackets transformed into doublet-like silhouettes create a powerful dialogue between past and present.

Textiles deepen the collection’s narrative. During a trip to the Dominican Republic, Lopez photographed cacao pods in shifting shades of yellow, green, and brown before translating the imagery into silk for expressive suits and draped tops. Earthy jacquards echo the texture of cacao, while brown-and-black striped velvet defines nipped-waist tailoring and smoky-dyed lace-shaped skirts. Cream and navy moiré offer a quieter counterpoint before the collection culminates in sequined dresses with asymmetric hems and feathered waist accents.

Accessories remain central to Lopez’s visual language, from pouchettes created with MCM and sculptural mules to sporty flip-flops developed with Brazilian label Kenner. Ripped gloves revealing jewelled fingers and buoyant feathered boas add further theatricality, reinforcing the collection’s instinct for juxtaposition.

With Christopher Street Columbus, Luar transforms historical references into a distinctly contemporary expression of queer identity and cultural memory. Beneath the vast Unisphere, Lopez created a collection that looks to the past not for nostalgia, but as material for reinvention.