Feng Chen Wang SS23 Presentation, Paris Fashion Week

Feng Chen Wang’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection is based on the idea of an imaginary human, who is full of contradictions. A sleepy adventurer. A hopeful cynic. A quiet charmer. A raging storm. A calm sea. Sociable but solitary. Gentle but strong. Faithful but unpredictable. There are many layers to them and just when you think you’ve learnt everything, you discover something new. The collection represents an evolution for Feng Chen Wang, who is based between London and Shanghai and is this season showing for the first time in Paris. Clothes feature light and dark transparent fabrics and opaque iridescent materials, elements that are deconstructed and fused together again with a new kind of dynamism. The colour palette of the season is inspired by the Royal Poinciana or ‘phoenix flower’ found on knitwear. The flower symbolises youth, vitality, the passion you feel for a lover when they are there and the longing you feel when they are gone. The phoenix bird, a Feng Chen Wang signature that is also endowed with meaning, appears throughout in jacquard knitwear, cut out into tailoring, shirting and denim. All tailoring this season is deconstructed – another Feng Chen Wang signature – and detachable, thus two or three pieces in one. Knits are a new focus drawing on a variety of techniques, their softness is a contrast to the utilitarian and futuristic. Several design pieces are embellished with crystals from Swarovski® alongside customised Nike Air Force 1, Nike A