William Fan remains true to himself. He has long maintained the tradition of only sharing the address of his show the day before the actual event. Because unlike other designers, these locations are unique, often far away, and the more familiar you are with the designer’s way of thinking, the more you get a first impression of the collection. This season the location was the warm-up hall of the Olympic stadium, and as usual we only found out about it a day in advance. Does William Fan trade brocade for sweater? Maybe he actually changes direction?
Compared to previous years, it was certainly a major change in the design of his collection. Fan’s standby shirts, jackets and wide trousers were, as every season, represented in new materials, but never prevailed. Instead, knitwear dominated the show, highlighting the laid-back luxury of a line-up he dubbed Off Duty. Knits, polos and slouchy trousers were used by Fan as a metaphor for leisure. His move away from glamor made way for tunics and turtlenecks. Of course, there were also occasional evening elements and party looks, but the beaded bags, for example, were so large that they could only be seen in a trendy Berlin bar as an everyday look after work.
Probably Fan’s greatest tradition is the song he chooses for the show. It’s almost always a forgotten tune, but after the show it sticks in the memory like an earworm. This time it was “Born Slippy” by Underworld. Because after all, no one wants to stop partying completely.
