No Sesso Is In A Class All Its Own: A Queer, Ghetto-Fab, Black Punk Symphony

By Shelton Boyd-Griffith· Updated September 10, 2022

Few shows truly capture the essence of nyfw and New York in general. You know, that raw, gritty, underground, club-kid-esque aura. Well, No Sesso is firmly cemented into that zeitgeist. It’s always queer, high camp, punk, and non-conforming. For their SS 23′ show, the house did what it does best, presenting a collection that is unapologetically itself. Full of signature house codes (see: rouged nylon and leather athluxe dresses and the signature “Carry Bag”), a bumping soundtrack of Ballroom clips, Lil’ Kim, and house classics, and a casting that is genuinely organic and inclusive. It’s No Sesso’s world, and we should all be lucky enough to experience but a drop of their magic.

This season, titled “SESSO,” “dives into the sharp, darker side of the brand’s identity and storytells around an aesthetic evolution into “Black Punk,” as stated in the show notes. This was best seen through the color palette and fabrication this season (which juxtaposed hard and soft premium denim alongside silk chiffons, nylon, and Italian leather. This season was moodier and darker yet still carried over elements from the Fall/Winter 2022 show, “The Girls With Dolphin Earrings.” This season also saw the continuation of their collaboration with Nike. Mini rouged dresses paired with AF1’s and a deconstructed reimagined Serena Williams’ Nike on-court look.

No Sesso Is In A Class All Its Own: A Queer, Ghetto-Fab, Black Punk Symphony

Photo credit: Gregoire Avenel

Design duo, Pia Davis and Autumn Randolph, know exactly who they are and who their customer is — few brands can say that. There are pieces for every day, eveningwear, and even swimwear, with a thread of the collection designed to be “2-in-1.” Take look 36, for instance. It’s an unassuming black slip dress reimagined through a utilitarian lens with adorned cargo pockets. Interrupting the lines of the dress are tiered zippers alluding to the utility and interchangeability of the dress; maybe it’s a full dress today, tomorrow it’s a minidress.

The show opens with a soundbite from Ballroom icon MC Debra “I would hate to have to bring my other daughter out,” then at the midpoint, there’s this moment where a model is pumping down the runway to the sound of Lil’ Kim’s “Queen Bitch.” That duality, that intersection of queer culture and high femme braggadocio—couldn’t sum up No Sesso any more perfectly.

Photo credit: Gregoire Avenel

One of the standouts of No Sesso every season is the beauty and glam, and this season was just as much a visual delight. Crimped hair, ornate campy ghetto-fab up-dos, long acrylic chrome nails, beauty marks, black lip liner. It’s always a love letter to Black femme opulence and glamour, to the girl on the block, to folx with a subversive edge.

Discover some of our favorite looks ahead.