Beginning with a vintage photograph of a crowd viewing a lunar eclipse, JOLIIN WU’s AW19 collection evolves from the past. Finding comfort in innate curiosity for the universe, Wu was inspired by a time where immediate answers weren’t within arm’s reach and sublime natural wonder was enough to hold collective attention. In a landscape where the digital offers most things instantaneously, Wu asks us to slow down.
This season, JOLIIN WU has created a collection for everyone. Mixing womenswear with her first menswear collection, Wu breaks the boundaries of the runway in an attempt to speak to a wider audience. The AW19 collection attempts to establish a simultaneous coexistence between mens’ and womenswear, while interpreting the world of the future from the perspective of both sexes. Not explicitly aiming for gender neutrality, AW19 aims to convey the importance of every individual, and the future preservation of their own unique style.
JOLIN WU has always excelled at fusing different materials. The collection exists as a delicate balance of past, present and future. Hints of retro sportswear influences meet futuristic details, with a colour pallet that ranges from silver, space blue and electric indigo to neon yellow and lemonade pink. In particular, this is the first time that JOLIN WU has used spliced art for seasonal prints: we deliberately use many embossed plaids, and utilize quite a lot of cutting tools and techniques in splicing together different materials while retaining the exquisite handcrafted sensations.
Drawing on the beauty of disorder, JOLIIN WU uses unexpected fabrics to push her story. Wool, silks, cotton, lace, and waterproofs join together in a textile collage. Taking risks in these unusual combinations, JOLIIN WU tries to redefine the future and the past, by redressing classic silhouettes in adventurous ways. AW19, Jolin Wu uses her unique approach in an attempt to define “future” and “retro”, to combine classic elements, handcraft, and design into modern fabrics. Even the silhouette of AW19, constantly try to define a future world from fantasy. With an aesthetic and craftsmanship that speaks to the reckless and romantic aspects of all genders, Wu seeks futurism with a heart. Her AW19 will surprise with its sleek modern veneer and emotional depth, drawn specifically from her love of the craft.
The AW19 collection marks the first chapter that looks towards the world of the future, one that mixes “past” and “future”. As designer Jolin Wu said, “It’s like the complex mood of now looking at the future imagined in the past.”