A Sai Ta’s first collection since February 2019 was a celebration of his Asian roots. He offered a point of view in fashion that’s not Eurocentric, where Asian references were the main course.
He presented looks that seemed to be referencing monks and nomadic herders in the Tibetan plateau and femme fatale characters in Hong Kong kung fu movies from the ’90s. The opening red dress, for example, looked like something Michelle Yeoh would have worn to a casino fight scene.
Nunchucks were repurposed as handbag handles, as well as straps on a dress. The monk hat got a fashionable update, and the robes that Tibetans wear inspired a slew of luxurious outerwear that the models wore over the designer’s signature colorful tie-dye dresses.
There seemed to be a subtle commentary on the collective memory of the Vietnam War in the collection as well. In the closing look, the British-Vietnamese designer shredded jeans and a knitted top to the point where they barely hold together. He paired the look with a green bomber with a long orange parachute train attached to it. Suzi de Givenchy, meanwhile, wore a black long dress with green fringe coming out everywhere, as if her body were a jungle.
