Calvin Luo designs his collections with an editor’s eye. Not only is he the founder of his eponymous men’s and women’s label, but he also started Rouge Fashion Book, China’s first independent art and fashion magazine. Released biannually, it’s something of a blue book for up-and-coming creatives in Asia, and Luo taps established artists from around the world to come collaborate with them. That well-rounded approach has given him some clarity on how to present and position a collection to international press and buyers. Fall 2019 marked the first time he put men’s and women’s on the same runway in an attempt to tell a more complete story (and because many of the pieces were actually unisex).
The 1980s and ’90s were on Luo’s mind this season, specifically the music scene, but he’s finding as much inspiration in the way his friends in New York and Shanghai are reinterpreting those tropes in 2019. The results felt less hackneyed than straight-up nostalgia: There were “power dresser” suits with pumped-up shoulders; punk latex trousers; graphic “zebra” dresses, which revealed Luo’s logo within the stripes; and clean, sumptuous coats in double-face patchwork wool. Certain details harked back to prior decades, like those bold shoulders (’80s) and rave-style crop tops (’90s), but most of the collection felt tethered to 2019. Backstage, stylist Tom Van Dorpe pointed out items that were statement-making, but not over the top; wearable, but not boring. It’s a balance that translates nicely on the sales floor. There was a vaguely Western button-down in plush jersey, like an elevated sweatshirt, and guys and girls alike modeled the dark-rinse wide-leg jeans. The women’s pair came with deep cuffs in brown tweed; Van Dorpe said his most elegant friends in Paris will wear them with a simple cashmere sweater.
