In the sun-baked court of Paris’s Lycée Montaigne, Feng Chen Wang showed her (mostly) featherlight spring collection as the heat radiated through the windless space. Maybe it was the high temperature, but the airy, silky tops printed with dried floral motifs pieces looked the most desirable. Wang said backstage that they were a nod to her beloved late grandmother. Wang’s birthplace of Fujian, China, where her grandmother also lived, is mountainous and cleaved by rivers. The added heartfelt memory made the botanical schemes even more appealing.
Wang is highly adept at taking influences from her home country and globalizing them. This time, she did so with a Gen-Z verve and a sort-of, kind-of ’90s filter. There was one segment of relaxed separates in a blurred hue print—this, too, was an abstract homage to Wang’s past. Call it her very own Technicolor dream.
Sometimes the lineup became a little jumbled—a beaded bra top (this was a co-ed show) and a tulle outer layer pant, worn over straight-cut trousers, felt less realized. But any doubt was ameliorated by the finale, when Wang sent out a teaser from her upcoming Nike collaboration. A spliced-and-diced neon green and black dress, it not only looked befitting of her oeuvre, it also added a jolt of sport—a welcome kick, especially in the lull of the afternoon heat.
