Scenes from the 2(X)IST Runway Show

It’s hard to believe that 2(X)IST has, ahem, existed for 25 years, but the once underwear-only line is all grown up. Last night, the brand held its annual runway show at Skylight Modern for its underwear, swimwear, athleisure-wear, and one major addition to the family…a line for women! We snuck backstage before the show to toast longtime creative director Jason Scarlatti and talk about some of the changes shown in the sexy Spring/Summer 2016 collection.

What does 25 years mean for you and the brand?
I’m so proud of it. It means we grew up! We’ve evolved so much and added new categories and are constantly expanding. I’m so proud of this show because we’re adding brand extensions and every year we build and build and build.

What are the brand extensions?
We’re launching women’s tonight. You’ll see the counterpart of the 2(X)ist male. It’s a big launch for us. We also have bags, swimwear, watches, flip flops…the little underwear brand has grown up.

What’s it like working on women?
It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be! We’re going to have a campaign that we’ll shoot in December, which we haven’t figured out yet because we want to get through this.

Who’s the male model in your campaign now?
Andre Z. has been the face for us on and off for about five years. He embodies the 2[X]IST man. He’s a gentleman, and really cares about his body and the way he looks. He’s fun. I adore him. He’s family. A lot of these guys are. They’re all stars. We like having a core group of guys.

The crowd gets excited during the show. Can you hear that backstage?
It doesn’t knock me off my feet because I’m nervous, but I love that we have a show where there is hooting and hollering. It means the brand has excitement. I know that people love beautiful men, but I hope they’re excited about the clothes, too! I am!