The Met Gala, as New York-based designer Tela D’Amore describes it, is fashion’s “big leagues.” And a big league debut means many late nights spent perfecting every little detail for the Met Gala looks that D'Amore is creating for actress Regina King and two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan.

“Every last technique we’ve developed and worked on intensely for the last seven, eight years is now coming into play here,” D’Amore, co-founder of fashion label Who Decides War, tells Highsnobiety during her painstaking preparations. “We’re really focused… It’s a focus unlike ever before, and we’re committed to each and every look we’re creating.”

The 2025 Met Gala may be the first time that D'Amore's work hits the red carpet but it's not the only place you'll be able to see it. 

Highsnobiety / Eli Shillinger

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Inside The Costume Institute’s Spring 2025 exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, lies a wool twill suit with an exposed polyester lining and horsehair detailing from Who Decides War’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection. 

The generous black suit, with its inner workings exposed by raw-hemmed paneling, is a reflection of how the brand rethinks the construction of conventional clothing. Or, rather, the deconstruction.

“Everything we do is deconstruction, reconstruction, and deconstruction again,” says Ev Bravado, the other half of the duo behind Who Decides War.

For King, the actress, D'Amore created a look with a sculptural wrap that encircles the head, acting as a built-in hood.

Sullivan’s interwoven lace organza silk suit, meanwhile, is demarcated by the trousers' layered drape.

“We want people to feel empowered. That was the goal, to display beauty at its finest with these two beautiful Black women,” says Bravado.

Highsnobiety / Eli Shillinger

And that's not all. D'Amore also designed an afterparty outfit for 2025 Met Gala hostess LaLa Anthony, someone D’Amore considers a mentor: A leather dress shaped from a mass of belts.

“It’s definitely a hot little number,” laughs D’Amore.

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Fresh from presenting an LMVH Prize nomination and its tenth-anniversary collection, presented at New York Fashion Week, Who Decides War could really consider these Met moments just another highwater mark.

Established as a purveyor of detailed and imminently distressed ready-to-wear, the independent clothing line has slowly expanded its tailoring and dressmaking focus over the past few years. This is the culmination of those efforts.

Says Bravado, these looks are "the highest [quality] product we’ve ever made."

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Who Decides War's Téla D'Amore x Jordan Flight Court sneaker takes the underrated skate-style shoe to an artful new level with thoughtful colorways and textural stitchwork. It was nice in black but in beige? Beautiful.

Famed for its heavily patched and stitched workwear-leaning clothes, D'Amore's approach to her Nike collaborations have leaned heavy on the handiwork.

As a result, D'Amore's Nike shoes are distinguished not only by solid colorways of imminently wearable sneakers, but unique additions that make them that little bit more special.

First seen on the Who Decides War co-founder herself, the beige Jordan Flight Court shoe is exactly what you'd expect, in a good way.

Handsome earth-toned colorway on the nubuck paneling, remixed Jumpman logo on the heel, and that unmissable stitching across the sneaker's sumptuous upper. Another banger, in short.

D'Amore's take on the Jordan Flight Court again elevates a relatively underrated shoe. Compared to the Jordan 4 RM, which had the benefit of launching with a Nigel Sylvester collaboration, the Flight Court has only received moderate attention from sneakerheads despite some truly solid colorways.

All the more power to D'Amore for shifting the narrative on a deserving silhouette.

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Kross Studio is young in the watch space. Founded in 2020, the five-year-old indie brand is a baby compared to its decades-old or even century-old peers.

Yet, in that short time, this family-run brand has locked in collaborations with major pop culture tentpoles like Marvel, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, building watches around some of our favorite moments in those universes.

The watches share a circular, fluid, industrial aesthetic. Think Marc Newson, whose design language helped shape both Ikepod and the Apple Watch.

As the name implies, Kross Studio is all about crossing over and collaborating, but it’s not just about putting a reference on a dial. “You’re not going to get a simple Star Wars watch,” Marco Tedeshi, founder and creative director of the brand, tells me at Watches & Wonders 2025.

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 “You’re going to get a full Death Star concept for the Lucasfilm collab, a watch with materials, shapes, typography, and case design inspired by the Death Star itself, sold in a kyber crystal case.”

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The Game of Thrones Ice Dragon watch, for instance, is made of Valyrian steel, delivered in a dragon egg, and set with icy diamond-like stones across the case.

These watches aren’t just about spectacle either. That Game of Thrones piece houses a floating tourbillon, which is no small feat. And this year’s novelties prove Kross can hold its own in serious watchmaking, even with pop culture in the mix.

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Tedeschi let me wrist-roll the MT1: Chronomètre Tourbillon 7 Jours, a titanium piece with an openworked dial, black PVD sandblasted opaline flange and clean white decals. It hits just as hard for the horology nerd as it does for the pop culture fan.

Beyond the storytelling, Kross Studio’s watches feature a distinct luggless case design that makes the 44mm size feel much more wearable, even under a cuff.

But let’s be real, if I’m wearing an ice dragon on my wrist, I want it seen everywhere I go.

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Stone IslandShort Parka

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VeilanceBucket Hat

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New year, new adidas Stan Smiths. But this time, make it GORE-TEX.

Yes, please.

Following in the footsteps of recent Superstar and Gazelle drops (and pretty much the entire sneaker industry), the latest adidas Stan Smith has gone GORE-TEX, welcoming the trendy waterproof material into its construction.

There have been previous Stans crafted with the material designed to keep wearers dry in their journey, whether that be a commute to the office or a rainy day in the wilderness. But there's been an uptake in sneakers made with rugged materials like GORE-TEX and Cordura in the last year or so, adidas models included.

The GORE-TEX Stan Smiths are special because it keeps already-clean and classic design looking fresh during messy weather. Plus, the shoes feature these creamy leather uppers, giving them a sort of premium vibe. Honestly, it looks a lot like adidas' 2023 all-black Stan Smith Lux sneakers, which also featured GORE-TEX updates.

Restock maybe?

Regardless, the "Core Black" Stan Smiths is joined by a "Core White" colorway featuring a tasteful forest green heel tab. Both sneakers are expected to land on January 17 at a few Japanese stores.

Last year, the adidas Stan Smith stepped back into the spotlight, landing at the center of clever collaborations with Brain Dead and CLOT. What's more, the adidas icon became the brand's leading muse for "Lux" makeovers, basically these ultra-top-quality Stans. Sometimes, they even looked like traditional dress shoes.

With fresh GORE-TEX upgrades, adidas' Stan Smith is still on the up and up and now, staying dry in the process.

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