MISSHAPES PLAYLIST
Playlist · From the Ninu Nina archive
The Misshapes Fashion week playlist by Leigh Lezark & Geordon Nicol
I asked Geordon Nicol and Leigh Lezark of the Misshapes to share their favorite fashion week tracks with us. Thank you guys for rocking the Von Vonni show party at Norwood.
— Leila Antakly, originally published on Ninu Nina
Who are the Misshapes?
The Misshapes are a New York City DJ duo, Leigh Lezark and Geordon Nicol. They began as a trio with Greg Krelenstein, after the three met at college, and took their name from Pulp's song "Mis-Shapes." They formed in 2003, and from 2004 their Saturday-night dance party became one of the defining scenes of downtown Manhattan in the mid-2000s.
It started in Lezark's apartment on Eleventh Street, then took over Luke & Leroy's, a small bar in the West Village. When capacity became a problem in 2005, the party moved to Don Hill's in SoHo, where downtown kids, designers, bands and celebrities ended up on the same dance floor.
Part of what made it different was who got to play. At a time when most club DJs were still vinyl purists, the Misshapes let friends spin off CDs and invited singers and models behind the decks. As Nicol told W Magazine, the point was who you were and if you had great taste in music.
The other part was the camera. Every week, misshapes.com posted photos from the party, including portraits shot against a plain white wall. That archive became a portrait of a generation, and later a stylebook of nearly 300 pages with photography by Karl Lagerfeld, Ryan McGinley, Patrick McMullan and Nick Zinner. The weekly party ran for about five years before the group moved on to special events.
From the dance floor to the runway
Designers who came to the parties started asking the Misshapes to soundtrack their shows. Since around 2008 they have made runway music for Henry Holland, Zac Posen, Tory Burch, Rachel Zoe, Costello Tagliapietra, Jeremy Scott and Calvin Klein, and have DJed fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Lezark has also served as a Chanel beauty ambassador, and the group's moppy black hair and skinny silhouettes were said to have influenced Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme.
Runway music is a different job from a club set. In a 2015 conversation with the CFDA, Nicol described a process shaped by many voices at once: the designer, the stylist, the production team and PR all weigh in, and the duo's job is to pull it into one cohesive soundtrack. Changes can come very late. The music can change up until the night before the morning of,
he said, and on occasion they have reworked it as guests were already taking their seats.
They also saw New York's approach shift. Shows that once leaned on the pop song of the moment began to treat music as part of the experience, closer to the standard in Paris and Milan. The same year, the duo scored their first film, Charles Ferguson's climate documentary Time to Choose.
Quick answers
Who are the Misshapes?
A New York City DJ duo, Leigh Lezark and Geordon Nicol, originally a trio with Greg Krelenstein. They formed in 2003, ran the Misshapes dance party downtown from 2004, and became in-demand DJs and music supervisors for fashion shows and brand events.
Why are they called the Misshapes?
The name comes from the Pulp song "Mis-Shapes."
Where was the Misshapes party held?
It began in Leigh Lezark's apartment, moved to Luke & Leroy's in the West Village, and in 2005 moved to Don Hill's in SoHo. It ran weekly for about five years.
Which designers have the Misshapes made runway music for?
Clients have included Zac Posen, Tory Burch, Rachel Zoe, Costello Tagliapietra, Henry Holland, Jeremy Scott, Calvin Klein and Karl Lagerfeld.
What songs did the Misshapes pick for Ninu Nina?
Little Dragon "Ritual Union," SBTRKT "Wildfire," M83 "Midnight City," Calvin Harris "Feel So Close," Charlotte Gainsbourg "Terrible Angels," SSION "Luvbazaar," CSS featuring Ratatat "Red Alert" and Cults "Bumper."
