For the past three years, since his AAFW debut in 2021, Jordan Gogos of Iordanes Spryridon Gogos has created a habit of making runway shows that make you feel as though you have stepped into a fever dream. It is never just about the clothes (which lean on the side of wearable art anyway), it is also about the experience, the performance, the feeling. This year, for Gogos' Resort 24 collection in collaboration with Akira Isogawa, Gogos leant further into the idea of movement and the story that it can communicate during a show, by working with dancer Rhys Kosakowski to create a visual dialogue through dance amid the show space.

In the middle of the 40 exits, out came Kosakowski's carnal dancers, performers and choreography collaborators Jackson Garcia, Riley Fitzgerald, Talga Kitaleong and Hugo Poulet, wore Iordanes Spyridon Gogos for Glenfiddich attire, and moved to the beat, twisted their bodies together, heaved in a pile in undulations that Kosakowski wanted to convey as an exploration between masculine and feminine energies. They continued these movements while the second half of the models wove through the show space, peeling off as the looks continued to come.

Here, Kosakowski shares his photo diary, lensed by Sam Armstrong, of rehearsals for the show, and talks to the experience of his first time choreographing in a setting like this.

Tell us about the process of working with Jordan to choreograph the show?

It was a real dream to work with Jordan, he is so fearless and free with what he presents that it gave me the courage and feeling of "let's just do this and go for it". So the process was fun. He gave me complete freedom with creating my vision and supported all the ideas I had. We spent about 2 weeks connecting the dancers to the concept and rehearsing about 3-4 times. Then did spacing and lighting the day of show. Everything was just fun and smooth!

 

Is this the first time you’ve done something like this?

I have done small dance videos on myself and not too much choreography, so this was something quite special and what I'd call a bucket list experience.

 

What was your favourite part of the process?

My favourite part of this was having something in my head, explaining and guiding the vision to a group of dancers that I was honoured to be working with, and seeing them listen and observe to take it straight into action. Seeing them all together literally putting my vision onto stage "but better" was my favourite part.

 

What does it mean to you to be part of the Gogos universe?

To me it means being a part of something bigger and more beautiful than what the world is mostly about right now. All communities being super artistic and expressive on stage but also in every minute of everyday. I was honoured.

 

Tell us about the movement…what inspired the choreography? What did you want to convey?

The movement for me had to be more expressive and statuesque than dancey. I wanted people to see the strong masculine side of men, but also the beautiful vulnerable and emotional side of femininity in men. I started thinking of how beautiful the mixture of both qualities in men are, and how sad it is that we still live in a world where men find it scary to be open and feminine when ever they want to be because it's not “manly” to do so. The piece was showing that it is normal and beautiful to be both.

 

Was there a feeling you hoped to capture?

I wanted the feeling to be strong, captivating and quite military. But also soft, vulnerable, emotional and feminine.