Young designer Chris Nick delos Reyes incorporates Tiffany hardwear in his summer 2022 collection

Do you wanna dance? In his summer 2022 collection, young designer Chris Nick delos Reyes gives a nod to the disco look, although he was born into an era in which the word discotheque, long obsolete, was simply an archival style reference.

“The 2000s called and I picked up,” he winks. “I was quite literally five years old, so I could only live vicariously through what I saw in the magazines, on the internet, and on television. I was way too young to live the way those fabulous women did.”

Although his idea of such effortless cool, the kind of sexy that turns night into day, burning up dance floors, was decidedly derived from his obsession with disco and club attitude, Chris Nick’s sensibilities are very now. “My recent trip to New York City introduced me to a new perspective of embracing newness and sexuality. And it also just fueled my obsession with discotheque,” he says. “It’s always present in the collections I’ve made in the past. For this season, merging elements of the Y2K era and the ’70s, I believe, captures the current generation’s energy, turning it into something distinctly ‘Chris Nick,’ with a more sophisticated approach to it all—clean lines but with all that ‘elegant edginess’ to it, if you will.”

In his summer 2022 collection, the designer serves up drop waists and lots of skin, although he is a firm believer that one need not show skin to be considered sexy. “But if you can and it works for you, why not?” he dares.

To amp up the style wattage, he incorporates some pretty serious Tiffany & Co. hardwear into some of the pieces. A pair Tiffany & Co. link earrings and a wrap necklace, both in 18k gold, for instance, fire up a French twill tuxedo blazer with flat standing lapel and handembellished ostrich feather full cuffs paired with French twill wide-leg pleated tuxedo pants. The same, plus a hardwear link bracelet in 18k gold, gives more luster to a French twill micro mini deconstructed Filipiniana with silk Mikado oversized bow bodice detailing. In a silk charmeuse structured cummerbund bralette and French twill low-waisted ultra pencil-cut skirt lined with silk charmeuse, a knot pendant necklace, Tiffany T hoop earrings with diamonds, and Tiffany atlas ring, all in 18k gold, sure will spark up conversations.

‘Fashion is a sort of mirror of society.’

The other ensembles included in the 2022 collection are a French twill tailored V-cut vest with silk charmeuse lining matched up with a French twill micro mini low-waisted skirt and French twill tailored standing collar convertible tuxedo coat dress with silk charmeuse lining, a double-lined silk jersey black evening dress with ultra-low back and silk Mikado bow bodice detailing, an Italian crepe silk pussy bow blouse in either cropped and full length version, silk chiffon, and sheer ultra pencil-cut, low-waisted full-length skirt, a lack silk chiffon sheer cover up paired with a long-sleeved blouse black trench twill low-waisted micro mini.

In electric blue, there’s a French crepe corseted micro mini dress lined with silk charmeuse, a French crepe deconstructed Filipiniana corseted, ultra pencil-cut evening gown with mid-high slit lined with silk charmeuse, and a French crepe tailored long-sleeve cropped top lined with silk charmeuse, and a French crepe low-waisted micro mini.

If that doesn’t seem to shine enough, try the silver piece of a sequined tuxedo blazer with flat standing lapel lined with silk charmeuse and then put on a black French twill wide-leg tuxedo pants with duchess satin piping. Or a sequined micro mini tailored long-sleeved dress lined with silk jersey.

Although most pieces are available in other colors upon request, there is black, of course, a lot of it, such as a twill corseted evening gown with ultra pencil-cut skirt and fully handembellished ostrich feather bodice lined with silk charmeuse and a French twill corseted evening gown with ultra pencil-cut skirt and silk and a Mikado oversized bow silk charmeuse-lined bodice detail.

With this collection, Chris Nick has created his first pair of shoes for the label this season—a pair of towering satin platforms, what he calls the club platform, in keeping with the discotheque inspiration.

The terno sleeves are also incorporated into the collection, as they are every season. “Truly, it’s such a beautiful piece of history and I would like to change the perspective that wearing the Filipiniana is synonymous to a themed costumed party or a formal event,” says Chris Nick. “I want to see it out during the evening on women having fun and feeling sensual and not restricted. I love seeing women in short hemlines and tubular cut dresses. In these pieces, they have a more understated look. I love it when women never have to try but you just know they’re on a whole different level of put together and you feel that energy from across the room—I think that is what makes a woman truly ‘chic.’”

To Chris Nick, the aim of fashion is to capture a moment. “You can do that,” he says, “by taking what is currently happening, being aware of it, and turning it into something real. Fashion is a sort of mirror of society and culture, as they are now, which may make fashion seem trendy, but there’s a way something can be relevant and current and at the same timeless and elegant. Fashion evolves very quickly and so do people.”

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