Hey, angels! This week, we’re featuring a phenomenal show review from the writer Emily Simon. But first, BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

We’re partnering with Echoz Magazine and Audrey Neyer of Art in the Park to throw a collage craft night on May 17th at dear friend books in Brooklyn. RSVP here

Last week, Mila Grgas interviewed World of My Own designer Sydney Wekstein for STAR⟡MAIL.This week, Emily Simon takes us backstage at World of My Own’s Fall 2025 show, Coeur Exposé.

What happens when you quite literally put your heart into everything? Sydney Wekstein, designer behind World of My Own, meets us at the intersection of divine femininity and style. Emily Simon takes us backstage at World of My Own’s Fall 2025 show, Coeur Exposé.

Thread of Hearts

By Emily Simon

The hysteria of a crush, the lustful haze of physical connection, the steadfast mechanism of falling in love; these are the themes explored in World of My Own’s Fall 2025 collection, Coeur Exposé. April 25th, , and one lustful evening-designer Sydney Wekstein delves into the stages of female vulnerability as one finds themselves falling in love. 

Sydney laid the grounds for World of My Own (WOMO) at 16 years-old from the confines of her bedroom and limitless expanse of her imagination. Today the brand has blossomed into a community. It’s a known-but-niche gem to a community of artistically inclined women and fem-identifying individuals; empowering one another while infusing a newfound sense of magic into garments. Like WOMO’s SS23’ show L’appel du vide translating to “the call of the void”, and their SS24’ show Metamorphosis; a multitude of themes are manifested in the form of contemporary garments with a fetching ambiance of darling girlhood; our innate urge towards destruction and compulsions for nostalgia in moments of introspection. 

A 35-minute subway and 20 minute walk through east Williamsburg later, I encroached upon the entrance to the show venue. The runway was circled by spectator seating. Every viewer radiated their own sort of beauty- reaping the similar solicitous decorum of the brand itself. Adorned with lace, frills, velvets, and layers of sheer pleats, it was like the room held up a mirror to itself, reflecting the bewitching charm of the crowd. 

Evocative structures by Maria Mosier lined the center of the runway. Rods of metal contorted and interweb between sheets of pink tool created a contrast between the materials, both juxtaposing and harmonious. The show is to begin at 8:20, faces amongst the beams of light from the cameras pointed at the ready, reaped a jubilee of jovial anxiety. 

The room begins to warm, melting nerves, but all felt frozen in time once the music began indicating the start of the show. The first look, a young, almost child-like presenting woman flutters to the runway. Her dress, a sheer pleated midi dress, cinched at the waist and textured at the top. I can’t help but take note of her earnings. Round scraps of silver leather with a rectangular charm in the center, designed by Pearl Baker. They accentuate the roundness of the model's face, suggesting a sense of youthful vitality. It's the kind that is both riveting but gentle, kindling memories of the early stages of falling in love. 

Angular silhouettes map out a treasure trove of passion. Dusty-pastel fabrics interlinked to constitute a structure of material encased the warmth of a human body. A couple perused down the runway. I notice how they are joined hand in hand, eye-to eye, wearing a silver-toned matching ruffled silk scarf around their necks. The connection conveyed between them pulling at one another like shoe-string back and forth in a game of tug-of-war that only ended in universal victory .

Wekstein takes careful consideration of structure, but like humans, there are layers. Oversized and unfinished hemmed cardigans overtop silks and twills. Pulling back each layer is like uncovering another scene to this love story, stories with no ending. It suggests that things maybe never really do end. A trifecta-a love triangle between a girl, materials, and foresight. Knitwear with cutouts, exposing the body, the heart, the soul.  

The models give a final look as the crowd erupts in cheers. Sydney at front joined her team for a celebratory group hug. The room feels now as if it has shifted, the energy emulsified. Now, its just a room full of friends, rejoicing in a communal success.

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