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On the chilly evening of New York Fashion Week’s kick-off John Varvatos premiered his latest campaign of rock and roll’s most sought-after designs starring Machine Gun Kelly.
Leather biker jackets, leopard print, distressed henleys, stilettos and combat boots cat walked in for John Varvatos x MGK Light Up The Bowery Live Show — to watch guitars, lyricism, and fashion collide. The Gunners loyalists mobbed forward with elbows ready as he appeared with a bare chest, and limited edition $2,298.00 John Varvatos leopard print jacket. MGK rapped, “Made man like Joe Pesci/ I need DeNiro or I’ll rob her/ I had to skate Wayne Gretzky/ Called an Uber helicopter,” bringing his demand-to-be-witnessed ambitions and street ideals to the spotlight with song “The Gunner.”
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As head bangers, rap aficionados, and style socialites downed their hard liquor, they became anything but bashful after MGK yelled, “I woke up wanting to do nothing but music.” With a guitar strapped tightly around his elaborate tattoos, MGK convulsed through records, “Golden God,” “27,” and “Kiss the Sky,” from behind his mic stand. However, a change in pace was in store, following the acknowledgment of the passing of his idol.
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Chester Bennington is well-known as a songwriter and the lead singer of the rock band, Linkin Park — but to MGK he was a mentor and friend. In honor of his legacy, MGK and band played Linkin Park’s hit “Numb,” leaving some of the audience teary eyed. This energy created a heartfelt ambiance for the performance of “At My Best,” and “Go For Broke.” Even so, The Gunner geared back into the notorious momentum fans rave about over the high hats of, “Trap Paris.”
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With the bounce in place, MGK ripped off his jacket exclaiming, “my band didn’t think I’d make it past 3 songs with this on.” His DJ laughed and directed the crowd to lift their “middle fingers to the sky.” And they did. Under the drug-like high of MGK’s sound, drunken hysteria pervaded below the blue light show of the main stage during “Wake + Bake,” and “Let You Go.” “It’s only right that we celebrate the campaign with this now triple platinum track,” said MGK, as Camila Cabello’s voice rang through on “Bad Things.” Fashion week’s event attendees melted into one another belting the popular lusty lyrics.
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Still, MGK wasn’t concluding the evening without witty banter about “trippin’ balls off mushrooms,” leaving everyone roaring with laughter before his Blink 182 cover of “All The Small Things.” A ricochet of dance moves left MGK winded as he thanked, “the fans that come to every show,” and boomeranged into the John Varvatos Light Up The Bowery Live Show grand finale. His rock star appeal may have unfolded easily on the #NYFW scene but he is a Cleveland representer above all. MGK buoyantly sprung across the venue proclaiming, “In the hood, I’m good till I die/ CLE till I die, ho/ Erry’where I go I’m puttin’ on/ Puttin’ on, puttin’ on,” before his runway ready mid-western swagger brought down the curtain.
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