Christopher John Rogers talks to L'Officiel USA about his grandmother's penchant for jewelry, and styling the latest Tiffany collection on his muse Alek Wek.

Christopher John Rogers is fashion&#39;s new&nbsp;king of color. A fashion designer on the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/rising-designer-highlights-fashion-week-spring-2020">rise</a>, he&#39;s become a favorite of influential women&nbsp;like <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop%20culture/michelle-obama-is-officially-the-most-admired-woman-in-the-world">Michelle Obama</a>, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop%20culture/rihanna-fenty-decade-music-fashion">Rihanna</a>, and Cardi B for his use of bright hues and his unabashed love of glamour. His vibrant,&nbsp;over-the-top runway shows have attracted&nbsp;significant attention, and he was recently named 2020&#39;s&nbsp;American Emerging Designer of the Year by the CFDA.&nbsp;

L&#39;Officiel scouted the globe for &uuml;ber talented&nbsp;up-and-coming fashion designers, and we asked each of them to interpret jewelry collections from the iconic American jeweler Tiffany &amp; Co. Rogers&#39; modern vision and&nbsp;love of glamour is the reason why we at L&#39;Officiel knew he had to be a part of this special collaboration. We visited Roger&#39;s&nbsp;design studio in New York City&#39;s Soho, where film director Lisa Immordino Vreeland captured him styling the supermodel Alek Wek in his fall collection, and mixing in yellow diamonds and&nbsp;the newest Tiffany T1 collection.

Along with Angel Chen&nbsp;and Antonin Tron of Atlein, Rogers&nbsp;interprets the timeless elegance of Tiffany jewelry. Read below to meet the emerging talent - and to see his vision of modern glamour come to life in &#39;Styled to a T.&#39;&nbsp;

0-48.png

Lisa Immordino Vreeland: When did you first realize you wanted to be a designer?

Christopher John Rogers: When I was in elementary school. My friends and I used to draw comic books and make little characters all the time.&nbsp;

I started to investigate what clothing and costume could mean for a character and their personality, and how it could imbue them with some new powers they didn&#39;t have before. That&#39;s when I started thinking about fashion as a medium for expression.

After that moment, I started going on YouTube and looking up old fashion shows. McQueen shows from the 90s and early 2000s, and John Galliano. I got really enraptured with the idea of creating a world and performing theater. Really creating entire fantasies, not just the clothes.

2-03.png

Is there a woman in your head that you have as a reference?&nbsp;

I think the women or the people that I always reference end up being my closest friends, who are always their own person.&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s really about a person who mixes and matches different things, who isn&#39;t beholden to one type of aesthetic or reference, and who creates their own world&mdash;not to impress anyone, but solely because they enjoy the journey of getting dressed.

You have to be super self-assured to feel comfortable in these clothes. I also hope that even if you aren&#39;t, the clothes can help you muster that within yourself.

0-37.png

You clearly love color. What does color mean to you?

Color is the way that I see the world, more than any specific reference, any decade, or type of garment, or silhouette.&nbsp;

It&#39;s a way to make people feel happy. It&#39;s what has always made me feel happy. My fifth grade school picture was me in head-to-toe yellow, which looking back, was hilarious. And my mom was like, &quot;I don&#39;t know what you&#39;re wearing.&quot;&nbsp;

2-08.png

What is your personal relationship with jewelry like?&nbsp;

My grandmother had a ton of jewelry and she definitely loved it, loved it, loved it. She always dressed monochromatically and presented herself in head-to-toe one color, so whether it was costume jewelry that was red that matched her red suit, or it was diamonds that she wore with an all-white ensemble, it was really for her about self-expression and not really taking it too seriously. That aesthetic and that point of view has manifested itself into the work that I do.

0-54.png

How was working with Alek Wek on this project? What kind of story are you telling together?

Alek is one of my top inspirations. Whenever I think of high glam and high fashion, I think of Alek. And that&rsquo;s definitely something that we&rsquo;re all about here at CJR is self-expression, taking up space, being glamorous wherever you go. So whether it is a black tie event or you&rsquo;re just walking down the street to grab a carton of milk, fashioning yourself in a way that allows you to be most yourself.&nbsp;

Get to Know Christopher John Rogers, New York's Favorite New Fashion Designer

Tags

Related Articles

Fashion

23 Black-Owned Fashion Brands to Shop

Fashion Week

Designers to Watch for Spring/Summer 2020

Fashion

30 Black Designers Who Shaped Fashion History

Recommended posts for you

Film & TV

8 Upcoming Celebrity Biopics to Add to Your 2025 Watchlist

Pop culture

Your 2025 Horoscope: Love, Money, and Career Predictions for All Zodiac Signs

Fashion

See the Most Iconic, Unforgettable Runway Shows From 2024

Film & TV

The Messiest Couples From 'Love Is Blind' in 2024

Fashion

Young Photos of Katie Holmes Prove She's Been a Trendsetter Since the ‘90s

Film & TV

'Nosferatu' Director Talks Sexuality in the Movie and His Book Collection

Pop culture

The Rise of Celebrity Look-Alike Contests: What’s Driving the Viral Craze?

Fashion

11 Beaded Bags to Add a Playful Twist to Any Outfit