This next batch of Fashion Week designers all had clear visions with concepts, and whether it was from cultural ties or the like, these ideas sprung to life!
Fashion Shenzhen
Various Chinese designers made their debut at Fashion Shenzhen’s S/S 2016 show. This year’s designers, Kavon, Haiping Xie, and Deng Hao, showed off their delicate and intricate collections, every artist in some way incorporating Chinese culture into their new works.
Kavon, recognized as the first-ever Chinese designer to successfully use “colour art”, combines 3D cutting with vibrant colors to create thoughtful pieces of different shapes and sizes. With elaborate designs and statement patterns, hues of reds, yellows, blues, and whites were present in the majority of her dresses.
In China, the designer, Deng Hao, has been nicknamed the “Chinese knitting queen”. As seen today, it is clear why she was bestowed such a name. Every piece by Deng Hao is unique and custom-made. Her collection consisted of a multitude of beautifully knit day dresses, blouses, and gaucho pants. In addition to the art of knitting, Deng Hao has also mastered the act embellishing her pieces with gems and floral patterns. Her collection debuted a variety of dresses and gowns with intricate designs and embellishments showered in layers of fabric with gems and rhinestones adorning the seams. She utilized colors of spring, popping to life her outfits with pastels of pinks, greens, blues, and whites.
Every piece by Haiping Xie strongly incorporated Chinese heritage and culture. Black and white dresses with cutting-edge drapery in combination with sheer linen head-pieces flooded her runway show. She turned simple gowns into edgy and playful works of art. Gold, red, royal blue, and black were debuted on many of the pieces promoting a sense of Asian royalty. Collages of Chinese tradition adorned many of the dresses as well making them come to life in a story-like manner. She used sheer and silky, lightweight materials and asymmetrical hems to express the intricacy and art of her designs.
Lie Sangbong is an innovative Korean designer. For spring, he created a light and airy collection, playing with geometric patchwork on a group of all-white looks. Lie also offered a series in blue that incorporated graphic linear patterns, stained-glass motifs and Korean lettering that was the lyrics to one of his country’s popular songs.
The collection included relaxed and loose cropped trousers as well as skirts and dresses with origami folds.
I really enjoyed these pieces, such intricacies and the pop of color in that of cobalt blue was brilliant!
As people began filling the open space of the Prince George Gallery, a crack in the wall appeared and models began filing out. The social atmosphere was buzzing with the combination of conversation among guests, which included one of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” Claudia Jordan and Demetria McKinney. 13 models stood against a metal plated wall while the audience moved closer to get a better look.
The Casa de Moda collection stayed true to its metropolitan image. “I’m from L.A. and I was inspired by my city,” designer Jessica Lynn said. “Last summer I was sitting on the beach and we [saw] a string of beautiful sunsets with pink and blue…in the sky, and I was like, ‘Alright, that’s going to be my next collection,’” Lynn said.
The pastel blue and pink of the sunsets that she mentioned were accents in her collection against a primarily black, white, and gray color scheme. Architectural details like asymmetrical slit skirts, ruffle hems, and half-moon shaped chest cutouts gave the minimalist looks dimension.
AMCONYC is a platform that brings together emerging millennial designers, allowing them to share their creations with top fashion insiders and influencers across the country. This year, AMCONYC featured Meagan Ollari, and other new designers together to send their latest looks down the catwalk in seven fashionable shows.
The models in Meagan Ollari’s “Bollywood Babydoll” Spring/Summer 2016 collection sauntered down the runway in bold prints inspired by Ollari’s recent travels to India. Bright colors and eccentric motifs played a leading role in her collection. Ollari created her line with innovation and wearability in mind, saying “I aim to be fresh, feminine, and sassy yet practical with my work and feel as though my best asset as a designer is the connection I have with my customers.” Feminine silhouettes brought the collection full circle with dresses perfect for sightseeing, outdoor brunches, and summer parties.
