Feng Chen Wang knows more than most about connecting east with west, old with new. Having grown up in a rural village in the southern Fujian province of China, she is now based between Shanghai and London, and sees herself as an ambassador for Chinese craftsmanship. “I am the best bridge-builder,” the designer said, speaking at a preview before her presentation at the Hôtel d’Evreux, a diamond’s throw from Paris’s luxury mecca of Place Vendôme. “It’s about connecting culture and community, and generations as well.”
For fall she drew upon the Chinese tradition of the “Hundred Families Robe,” a patchworked mantle made up of 100 pieces of fabric collected from friends and family and said to bring luck to a newborn. In Feng’s version, she spliced up deadstock fabrics from her studio with Chinese silk fabrics she had collected to form a bomber jacket in various shades of khaki and a floor-length, double-breasted coat whose train unbuttoned to convert into a cropped style. Similar ingenuity was on show with her modern take on the Chinese knot, inspired by memories of her grandmother’s knotted hairstyle and knot-fastened garments, enlarged here for the streetwear generation to comprise cartoonish proportions on padded scarves. The motif was used to equally deft effect on reversible puffer jackets, as well as shearling and nylon coats with detachable panels.
The collection also served as an official debut for Wang’s makeup collaboration with Estée Lauder, which launches in April after two years in the making. Wang chose to zero in on an eyeshadow palette of nude and beige tones with pops of plum. “Purple is a very important color in China, meaning loyal family,” she explained, “and it connects back to the phoenix, which is a symbol for the brand.” Phoenix imagery popped up elsewhere on laser-printed indigo denim studded jackets and jeans, the pattern inspired by the traditional ink drawings that Wang used to practice as a child, and in the swooping foam rims that clipped on to Nike Air Max 97s.
The latter in particular summed up Wang’s knack for rejuvenating archetypes—no wonder Nike has already tapped her as a collaborator. And if her choice of show venue was surprising, its silk-lined walls and formal salons far removed from the raw, urban spaces enlivened with throbbing music she’s shown at before, that was all part of the plan. “People have been asking me all day, Feng, why did you choose here? It’s not you!” she laughed. “But actually I wanted to have a bigger contrast—not following what people expect. I want to say, hey, the space is traditional, but people can be modern.”
