Wooyoungmi Spring 2022 Menswear
Even if remote connections abstract us into flat-screened incorporeal entities, you can sometimes sense the pull of a powerful aura coming from the other side of the ether. The gravitas and poise of Wooyoungmi’s Madame Woo feel piercing, even though over Zoom she calmly speaks Korean through an interpreter, while regally sitting in her showroom in Paris.
Madame Woo seems to have a passion for good books; each of her collections is inspired by a novel she has particularly enjoyed. For spring, taking cues from Julian Barnes’s The Man in the Red Coat, a historical novel set in Belle Époque Paris, she added her personal twist of narrative to the original plot. The literary references acted as a sort of layered metaphorical backdrop to a fluid sartorial play on deconstructed silhouettes with a slouchy/dynamic, urban Gen Z vibe. Woo called the collection a “genderless shared wardrobe.” She might be fascinated by a well-written historical novel, but she doesn’t indulge in nostalgia.
Slightly oversized, elongated tailoring was heightened with imaginative additions—hooded capelets; high cummerbunds and corsets extending trousers’ waists; bibs in open wave airy crochet; sculptural sleeves contrasting the sporty lines of nylon windbreakers. Technical and performance nylon-based fabrics had a textured, crinkled finish; flashes of carmine red, radium green, custard yellow and powdery blue lit up a palette of serene neutrals.
Replicating the collection’s approach, the video is an elaborate, stylish affair which reprises the literary inspiration, distorted through a surreal XR (Cross Reality) filter. The set is a trippy rendition of an Art Nouveau train station, intended as a metaphor for a new desire for travel and escape. “It’s time to be lighter, to pursue beauty again. Everyone deserves their Belle Époque,” said Madame Woo. “La Belle Époque is now.”
Published at Mon, 28 Jun 2021 13:12:24 +0000