Madison Square Association Garden, tucked away between two Bushwick apartment buildings, was the setting for local fashion brand Amehl SS23’s latest collection last week.

Highlights from Mehl’s previous shows include: A long table filled with pastries and gems, the centerpiece of her show How to Keep Your Husband.Mock awards show where model received trophy dressed in her ‘193’^rd Annual Amer Gala Celebration” collection. A back-to-school-themed season in which her entire show took place inside a school bus.

Her most recent act took off on the web before it even reached the yard.Mehl and her mom, Beverly Mehl, created a talk show featuring young Mehl as a guest.

“I’m like a mad YouTuber spiritual New Age seer who acts like he has a prophecy,” the email said.

At night, groups gathered behind chain link fences to catch a glimpse of Mail’s extravagant fashion show. “She’s a prophet, so she must have a lot to say to you,” one of them, a local named Jules Her Elmrib, energetically told me.

So far, the Prophet’s message seems to have been “Aliens have come to the Community Garden.”

A local DJ called “Ion” was offering alien-dancing music, sort of trance, techno, and pop-themed mixes made from samples of regression records. The set opened with the lone voice of a girl speaking to her. Let’s talk to the DJ. ”

“The intro resets the room,” I heard Ion say.

Mel’s aliens turned out to be a diverse cast of models dressed in designs ranging from a variety of colors to sunset hues, rich purples, vibrant pearlescent to lush greens. Her work shows genuine Y2K influences and definitely nods to her own past.

“[This style is] What I’ve been doing since I was 5 years old. Her mother is a designer, so she stapled her fabrics from her mother’s warehouse. Her clothes were always naughty, dreamy, shameless and pretty,” Mail said.

“I think I’m from another planet,” Mail said.

All images were taken by Davita Aundréa.

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