WARMING Worldwide is a streetwear brand inspired by contradictions.
Looking back on Denver Fashion Week (DFW) Fall 2022 — the last time WARMING took the DFW runway — these contradictions are center stage. The collection was the perfect marriage of streetwear and couture.
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The looks all fit into a black-and-white color palette. Models wearing racing helmets shared space with models in ball gowns. The backing music combined orchestral symphonies and hip-hop.
READ: DFW’s Streetwear & Sneakers Is Back For Another Season
In fact, the name WARMING comes from this very concept. Designer Ethan Christe was struck by the juxtaposition when one of his friends texted the word in capital letters.
“I just found it really interesting how the word ‘warming’ in all caps completely deviates from the original message that was being told, just because of the way it looks visually,” Christe shared. “When the original meaning behind it is like ‘warm and cuddly,’ but it looks so alerting and threatening — I liked the juxtaposition.”
So, while its name looks like a warning, the brand itself is playful, endearing and on the cutting edge of streetwear.
As it is, Christe is the perfect embodiment of what his brand stands for.
Walking into his studio, it’s clear Christe thrives at the intersection of polar opposites.
He has a can of Coors Banquet opened next to a Monster energy drink. He’s dressed like a D Park regular but has a floral pin cushion around his wrist. He has tiny toy cars next to custom patterns, delicate fabrics and meticulously crafted pieces for his upcoming return to the DFW runway.
He speaks in humble jokes and youthful self-deprecation but lets high fashion designer names and concepts roll off his tongue like they’re common knowledge. And to him, they are.
After all, Christe has been engulfed in the world of fashion since middle school and operating WARMING since 2017. He’s a veteran of a Filipino fashion design school where he learned the ropes from within an entirely different culture.
In other words, Ethan Christe is WARMING personified: marrying contradictions together into one cohesive, strikingly cool, seemingly effortless energy.
While it may seem effortless, allowing two opposite ideas to exist together is the very real philosophy that guides WARMING and Christe through the design process.
“This philosopher named Alan Watts said, essentially, ‘on a white page, nothing exists, but if you put a black dot on it, there’s something to be experienced.’ Meaning, all white is nothing, all black is nothing, but when there’s white on black or black on white, that’s when you have an experience,” shared Christe.
As such, in an endless pursuit of the “experience,” Christe revels in staying unpredictable. For his return to the DFW runway for this fall’s Streetwear & Sneakers night, he’s striving to put together a collection unlike anything he’s done before.
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“As soon as I walked off the runway for my first show, I immediately thought, ‘My next show, I want to make people cry,” Christe admitted. “I want to make people emotional.”
Without revealing too much, — after all, he’s hoping for real visceral reactions from the DFW audience — Christe shared that his collection centers around a love story. Moreover, this love story will be told through models of all ages, with the youngest being eight years old.
To prepare for the upcoming fall show, Christe is taking a personal approach by putting himself in the shoes of the models he’s designing for — in the perfectly balanced WARMING world.
“In the WARMING universe, when I was 8, 12, 16 what was I wearing? What was I into? What would that person look like?” Christe mused about his concept.
Despite the personal nature, he still finds himself challenged, stepping outside of his typical design process. Nevertheless, this challenge is entirely intentional, as WARMING is a brand that never seems to stand still. Instead, as Christe evolves, the brand evolves with him.
Despite the evolution, however, Christe — and WARMING as a result — is still committed to the roots he laid when he was screen-printing hand-designed graphics in 2017. And he’s determined to stay true to the ever-balanced WARMING universe.
“How can I still honor the integrity of the brand while doing something new and stepping out of my comfort zone?” Christe asked.
As Christe continues to push the boundaries of his creativity, this question remains at the forefront of his process: how can WARMING evolve while staying true to its origins? It’s a delicate balance — one that has defined the brand since its inception. Christe’s ability to honor the integrity of WARMING while stepping outside his comfort zone is what keeps the brand fresh yet recognizable.
In an industry where fashion is often expected to follow the rules, WARMING stands out by effortlessly breaking them.
Ethan Christe’s unique ability to blend opposing forces defines not only his designs but at the heart of the brand itself. As WARMING prepares the return to DFW, Christe’s refusal to stay in one place ensures that his next collection will be unpredictable, captivating, and, yes, possibly even a tear-jerker.
Yet, despite the evolution, one thing remains certain: WARMING will always exist where contradictions create harmony and nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Denver Fashion Week will take place November 9-17 at The Brighton venue. Tickets can be purchased here.