Jason Wu makes his way through the four elements. Emerging from the watery depths of last season, he explored a dark forest – the setting for many a fairy tale – before autumn. The goal, he said on a pre-show call, was to combine fantasy with “an element of darkness, something a little more sinister and interesting.” (Wu, like Sandy Olsson in Grease, is on a mission to revamp his image, and wants people to see him as he is now, which is not the “polite and proper” person he was 15 years ago when he became fashion first. honey.) It’s ironic that while the rest of the world becomes obsessed with Capote’s swans, Wu is turning away from the ladylike finesse of his early work and toward deconstruction. It’s a technique he’s been playing with for several seasons, and it probably goes back to the designer’s obsession with the work of Charles James, who, Wu said admiringly, made dresses that were as beautiful on the inside as they were from the outside. James, by the way, is credited with creating one of the first puffer coats, and Wu showed a washed example, as well as coats with center-back snaps that allowed them to fan open in a nice gesture.
Over the past year, Wu has continued to build on the tradition of American sportswear, showing an increasing number of items in addition to the beautiful dresses he is known for. This season’s opening look was a relaxed off-the-shoulder top and heavily paneled skirt in gray jersey with a spiderweb of exposed seams. A beautifully embroidered tulle top, light as an exhale, was paired with black trousers, and tailored coats and jackets showed off their horsehair layers in a perfectly imperfect way. “There’s an idea of doing something that’s super elevated, but at the same time something that’s worn out,” Wu explained.
Softness and a kind of emotional warmth were also important here. Wu used draping and swaddling; the latter is a trend that has spread from Copenhagen to New York. Fortuny-style pleated dresses featured bark- or slat-like textures that also linked to the brittle ink lines of the drawings of 19th-century illustrator Arthur Rackham, whose work also inspired the custom print in the collection.
The finale looks on the show owed something to James and perhaps Yohji Yamamoto, and were meant to convey a sense of undone. By exposing their construction, the designer also started a conversation about the art and complexity of clothing making and challenged the idea that beauty should be synonymous with perfection. Aren’t we all a work in progress?
Recognizing how difficult it can be to work in the industry, or even sneak into a show these days, Wu invited 100 students to attend the show, including some who studied with DooRi Chung, a former CFDA award winner , at Marist. “I really want to do something that’s not just for me because I believe in the talent that’s in New York,” Wu said. His collection offered another reason for this.
