Tuesday 14 February 2012

NYFW | Jason Wu Fall/Winter 2012/13

 


Jason Wu Fall/Winter 2012/13


"The big question is, 'What is China?'" No kidding. It feels like everyone in fashion is talking about China or investing in China or trying to figure out what women in China want to wear. For Jason Wu, who was born in Taiwan but has spent mots of his life living elsewhere, the question is a little more personal. Because although he's an Asina-American designer, he's yet to consciously reference the country in his collection. "I guess it's just so obvious to me because I grew up with it," he said a few days before his fall show. But when he returned to Taiwan recently, for the first time in five years, he started thinking about it in relation to his work. Or as he puts it, "How would a Chinese designer do Chinese?" The complete answer won't be revealed until tomorrow, but here are Wu's three starting points: Chinese military (so think rigid lines and army green), the Qing Dynasty (elaborate brocades and ornamentation), and movies like 1932's Shanghai Express, which Wu acknowledges wasn't very Chinese at all, but he's interested in how the culture was reflected (or refracted) through Hollywood's lens.

Enjoy Jason Wu Fall 2012/13 Fashion Show at the end of this post! LoL, Andrea
















China: land of fashion opportunity. At 29, it has taken Jason Wu a while to turn the East and fully embrace this part of his identity, which so far has only been implicit in his name. "I went back to Taiwan, where I was born, a year and a half ago." he said. "I realized I was ready to take on one of the biggest subjects I grew  up with, how does a Chinese designer do 'China'? I've lived in America, Canada, and Japan, but to come back to this means so much to me." In his most dramatic show to date, Wu's focus shifted from last season's pretty young girls in cocktail dresses and micro-shorts, to unleashing an army of Chinese power women. They marched from a pair of palatial wooden doors installed at the end of the runway, wearing his take on the legacies of Chinese history: interpretations of militaristic communist army-green uniforms, the rich brocades and embroideries of the Qing Dynasty, and the glamor of the thirties, as filtered through Marlene Dietrich's movie, Shanghai Express.












With its tendency to strict silhouettes - neat, belted jackets and coats bristling with fox fur collars, quilting and epaulets; rigorously skinny pants; and body-conscious knee-length pencil skirts and fitted sheath-dresses - the collection seemed to play to a far more grown-up constituency than Wu's reached before. Still, with the exit of the ingenue, the luxury quotient was even more amped-up, most successfully in the outerwear: lace-appliquéd capes, a spencer with extravagant for sleeves, a cinched puffer veat with a deep fur peplum - all looks easy to imagine being flaunted on freezing New York afternoons around next winter's shows. For evening, 3-D velvet and gold-beaded embroidery, strategiaclly placed on dresses that paid glancing homage to cheongsams gave away to full red-carpet gowns in clashes of cyclamen and imperial red satin, slashed to show plenty of leg. As a finale, Wu sent his girls out, three abreast, almost like a military parade in Tiananmen Square. It was a strikingly ambitious statement, and one which will undoubtedly resonate with the global audience opening up before him.



























Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: VOGUE
Photography by Marcio Madeira/firstView


Enjoy my previous New York Fashion Week post -

'NYFW | Red-Carpet Dramatics by Prabal Gurung'

Fall/Winter 2012/13 Collection





1 comment:

Shagun said...

Very sophisticated designs. It's fascinating to see fusion of sexy, American-chic style with oriental influence. I esp like the brocade type, silk prints. It's a delight, as always, to visit your fashion blog, dear Andrea. Loves it!!!...Cheers, Shagun

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