It occurs to me amongst the black coat-clad, balaclava-wearing show invitees that there is a fine aesthetic line between fashion show and funeral parade. But the permeating air of ceremony here at Feng Chen Wang is way more fun. I am once again improperly and underdressed for the weather as it snows outside in Paris and there are only a handful of things I wouldn’t do for a cup of tea. I guess a runway interpretation of having a cuppa is the next best thing.
Taking inspiration from the depth and artistry of Chinese tea ceremonies, Feng Chen Wang’s latest collection challenges the strict provenance of traditional Chinese garments by aggrandizing their details and applying them to contemporary silhouettes that honor ritual and material; process and gestation. This intertwined with corporate-core sensibility and the utilitarian street influence of British post-punk and y2k balances the yin and yang of her collection and makes for a brand code that is so very trendy, and so very cool.
Having recently collaborated with Converse and Crocs, Feng Chen Wang is steadily rising to high mainstream popularity. The fruits of these collaborations meet on the runway with sculptural rubber encapsulated high-top sneakers that punctuate most every look. They look like little gorp-core tea cups for your feet.
Although I don’t think that avant-garde or camp are going anywhere anytime soon, it seems we have reached a point in the visual language of postmodern fashion that is almost full circling back to something quite strict and militarian. Although quiet and presented in tandem with crocs and slicked back rat-tails, I believe we see seeds of that sentiment in this collection. But that might just be the undertones of a collection inspired by a democratic dictatorship- anyways, it’s beautiful and cool.
In all, this is not your average tea party- and all the better for it!
À toute,
Rianna Murray
