Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
MILAN, Italy — Uma Wang now shows in Milan (after testing the waters in both London and Paris), a fact that gels well with her exhaustive textile development in partnership with Italian factories. Championed by Chinese editors like Modern China Weekly's Shaway Yeh, Wang has accrued significant stockists in both Italy and China in recent years and will form part of US retailer Opening Ceremony's Chinese showcase for 2016.
In Milan, she is the only Chinese designer on the schedule, yet does not allow that fact to cloud her decidedly romantic point of view that swings towards a dusty, baroque feel of lived-in opulence; clothes attuned to palazzo living, if you will.
Unafraid of a historical reference or two, Wang’s Autumn 2016 outing delivered elements of masculine and feminine wardrobe exchange via post-WWI Europe, starting with the ominous soundtrack and continuing through the clash of military regalia and opulent brocade textiles on sack dresses, overcoats, and generously tailored suits. Wang paired matte and shine fabrics together in irregular panels to glorious effect (pinstripes on chinoiserie was a rousing combination) for a coherent collection punctuated by bold outerwear pieces each with their own dishevelled charm.
Her work proves that pigeonholing designers by race is risky business. Globalisation has levelled the playing field, a fact that is altering the collective value system embedded in clothing for the better — making quality and vision count all the more — no matter the name on the label.
