APUJAN once again launched a new collection this Autumn/Winter season, using fashion, music, and film to tell another fantastical story interweaving science fiction, literary allusions, nostalgia, and the passage of time.
In response to the pandemic, APUJAN has switched to online films to present his designs in the fashion shows in the two most recent seasons, but the goal is not to simply advertise or produce a music video, but to use the medium of film to illustrate themes, tell stories and to explore the concepts of clothing, accessories, makeup and hair, with the focus of the video remaining on the clothes.
Filmed in the hometown of APUJAN, the main actors of the video are Tzu-Yi Mo and Kuang-Ting Liu, winner of the Best Actor and the Best Supporting Actor award, and Yu-Hua Sung, nominee of the Best Actress award in the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, the most prestigious Chinese film awards. The most well-known chess player in Taiwan, Joanne Missingham, and actor Josie Lin and Zin are also participating in this special performance.
In the film, the actors and the models featured in the story, showcase more than forty sets of new designs. A wide range of original fabrics and techniques are used in the clothes, including the unique jacquard, embroidered and printed fabric, exclusively developed by APUJAN, and these can be seen not just on the clothes, but also on the covered buttons and hats. Many different special patterns of knitting, ranging from very fine pure silk knit to handmade merino wool knit are also used to create the designs. Many oriental traditional clothing elements are also combined into contemporary designs, inspired by the imagination of the fantasy world
The story features a detective who can dive into other people’s dreams, travelling through them to solve puzzles, however it becomes difficult for him to distinguish between memory, dream and nostalgia.
Every scenario in the film echoes the physical fashion show. The detective, for example, represents the guests of the show and the manager is the brand representative. The echo resonates through every aspect. It reflects the invitation, the scan entry for the show, the live performance from the music producer as well the social aspect of the show. The showcasing of different clothes, accessories, shoes, hair and make-up, and even the final bow at curtain fall are all part of the reflection that echoes between the digital and physical show, with the clothes being the centre of the focus.
The film features many props, such as cardboard boxes, paper bags and business cards that are branded packages designed by APUJAN. The books that appear in the storyline are also associated with APUJAN in different ways, including cover designs or written prefaces. APUJAN’s previous joint collaborations are also interspersed in the film, along with the digitised pattern in the details on the clothes, such as dinosaur bones, planets and spacecraft.
APUJAN debuted his men’s designs for the first time in this film through the two actors, including jacquard suits combined with different combinations of shirts and knitwear.
The music is produced by DJ QuestionMark, using the production methods of film scores. Based on the “future romantic” style, the tracks mix Cyberpunk, string textures and electric rhythms which compliment the atmosphere and the plot development, and incorporate more elements into the fashion show film and opens up another aspect of runway music.