For SS26, HENGDI WANG presents EXOGENESIS. This collection is a meditation on the exogenous origins of life, where Eastern mythology converges with post-human biological constructs, digital craftsmanship, and futuristic materials. EXOGENESIS envisions clothing as more than ornament, more than protection. It is a vessel of memory, a code of survival, and a bridge between the cosmic and the human.
In this narrative, ancient Eastern myths are reframed not as fantasy but as traces of humanity’s fragmented memory, distant recollections of unknown star systems and interstellar encounters. The legendary bestiaries of Shan Hai Jing reemerge as echoes of extraterrestrial forms, while Kunlun is reimagined as a crashed generational starship, a colossal relic of forgotten journeys across the stars.
Through 3D-printed textiles and metals inscribed with sacred geometry and nebula imagery, the collection reconstructs bones, scales, and mechanical exoskeletons into new forms that imagine resilience and fragility as one. Traditional embroidery and jacquard are recast as vessels of information, intertwining with digital algorithms, creating an organic aesthetic that lives simultaneously in the past and the future.
The SS26 collection examines myth, memory, and futurism through three key axes:
- Mythological Reimagination
- Inspired by Shan Hai Jing and oracle bone script (Jiaguwen), primordial beasts and cosmic myths become biomorphic archetypes of extraterrestrial life. Ancient cultural codes transform into contemporary design languages.
- Biological and Mechanical Structures
- Exoskeletal chitin, segmented armor, and iridescent scales are reimagined through advanced 3D printing, forming skeletal spirals and sacred geometries. These hyper-organic morphologies balance fragility with strength, merging the biological and mechanical.
- Mechanical Oracle Script
- Borrowing from early inscriptions and digital coding, fabrics are laser-etched with “Mechanical Oracle Script,” a hybrid visual language of geometry, ancient scripts, and NASA celestial imagery. These garments glow with bio-luminescent filaments, acting as living codes that speak the narratives of connectedness across cosmic and cellular scales.
With EXOGENESIS, HENGDI WANG proposes a radical exploration of continuity, cultural resonance, and transformation. Clothing is not merely worn. It becomes a container of time, a vessel of collective memory, and a living code that transcends the human body into the infinite unknown.
