Yuhan Wang (Q3721)
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Yuhan Wang is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Yuhan Wang |
Yuhan Wang is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Boxing topped Yuhan Wang’s bill as the heavyweight sporting inspiration for this show. Her press release spelled out pioneering female fighters including Jane Couch, Laila Ali (daughter of Muhammad), and Bridgett Riley as personifications of the spirit she was attempting to distill in her clothes. As the designer put it: “I think the past sportswear was all based on men. It’s quite functional, but no one’s thinking about how women want to be dressed in that kind of sportswear. Since we are quite good at lace, romantic moods, we are trying to express sportswear in a more feminine way.”This was further laid out via the head guard and silk boxing gloves clad in lace, and to a lesser extent the layered-waistband boxer shirts in shirting cottons. The notion of bringing ultrafeminine tropes into a sporting arena that until not so long ago was formally forbidden to women was a clever way of generating an interesting tension for Wang to explore.However, that headline sporting reference proved only one in a whirlwind combination of them. Football shoulder pads, basketball jerseys, soccer shin pads, tennis sweatbands, baseball shirts, and court shoe-sneaker hybrids were also thrown into the mix. Then there were the full tiered skirts, sometimes panniered, that were a tribute to a group of female wrestlers from La Paz, Bolivia, named the Fighting Cholitas. En masse these served to dilute the impact of the dichotomy that Wang had initially set up so nicely. Still, it was fun to sit runway ringside and follow Wang’s bout between the gendered codes of recreational protection and provocation.
13 September 2024
This morning at the show space in London’s Old Selfridges Hotel, Yuhan Wang’s court was in session. “I was inspired by women in law, and how they’ve shaped our history,” Wang said at a preview, citing the US Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as the British judge Brenda Hale, as examples of the powerful women whose work has paved the way for Wang’s own generation in all corners of society. “It’s really a celebration of their confidence and courage, and their contributions to women’s social status and their work around the elimination of gender discrimination.”It may sound like a rather severe starting point—sartorially, at least—but once seen through Wang’s whimsical lens, it presented a compelling dialogue between her signature girlish florals and frills and her move to more grown-up tailoring pieces and outerwear over the past few seasons. (The inclusive casting across a broader spectrum of age and body type also helped reiterate Wang’s more mature direction.) The opening look served as a tidy introduction to Wang’s courtroom drama: the traditional civil robes of High Court judges re-envisioned as a sheer lacy cloak with power shoulders and a flap collar, worn over pleated hot pants and white lacy tights with a garter. There was a touch of humor in having the model walk toting a briefcase—humor because, well, even in the more progressive environment of today’s world of law, this look does not meet a professional dress code.Yet what followed saw those strict style codes translated into a series of looks that, when broken down, had some surprisingly wearable pieces in the mix. A tweed skirt suit featured frilly sleeves made of repurposed lace cutoffs from previous seasons, offering a more playful riff on the sophisticated wardrobe staple; as did another tailored jacket cut from a satin viscose that was gently nipped in at the waist and came with a matching skirt that bloomed into folds at the bottom to provide a gentle swish. (With much of the collection realized in black and white—for obvious reasons—it also meant that Wang’s eye for detail was able to really shine.) The designer still had some more outré tricks up her sleeve, though, not least in a final look that reinterpreted the judge’s uniform into something altogether racier, with a corset waist embedded in the jacket and lacy suspender underwear worn over shorts that erupted into straggles of frilly lace above the knee.
Her subversive streak ensured there was still plenty of delightful disorder in Wang’s court.
19 February 2024
Yuhan Wang’s vision of femininity may appear delicate on the surface, but it’s always undercut with something steelier and a little dangerous. So it makes sense that, for her spring 2024 collection, the designer would turn to one of the most resilient heroines in literature: the protagonist of Thomas Hardy’sTess of the d’Urbervilles. “I wanted to recast Tess in the shape of today’s woman,” said Wang after the show. “To explore a woman’s power and her ability to choose the path of her own life.”This season, the wanderlust of the Yuhan Wang woman saw her head to the high seas, realized through a series of nautical-inspired looks that included barely there silk slips featuring paintings of sailing vessels; a gown made of woven strands of lace threaded with seashells; and a wonky cropped take on a sailor’s jacket festooned with delicate white ribbons. “She’s a long way from home,” Wang noted. The most compelling pieces for the designer’s loyal customer base, however, will inevitably be the cottagecore-adjacent gowns cut from lace and broderie anglaise, as well as the charming raffia hats that had been Frankensteined into bouncy minidresses—all of which were styled with her own distinctive riff on a Regency straw bonnet.Elsewhere, a series of looks toward the end came with colorful strawberry prints, while a standout consisted of a beaded two-piece lavished with strawberry leaves—here nodding to the famous seduction scene from Hardy’s novel and adding a necessary injection of the perverse. “I wanted to keep that softness, but add a touch of strength too,” Wang said. If you ever needed convincing that softness can be its own kind of strength after all, Wang’s clothes should be your answer.
17 September 2023
“It’s quite a feminine story,” Yuhan Wang said of her latest collection. “It’s about the beauty of women’s resilience.” That sentiment shone through from the very first look: a motorcycle jacket, except it wasn’t. Structured into something like a puff-sleeved doublet with the help of curved boning, then covered in wispy yellow and black lace, it served as a nod to Uma Thurman’s bumblebee leather jumpsuit inKill Bill, with the Tarantino revenge thriller serving as a critical inspiration for the collection as a whole. So too did it summarize Wang’s interest in combining the delicate and something a little more dangerous this season, embodied in the recurring print of Gogo Yubari chains intertwining with ribbons. For further evidence of the Wang girl’s dangerous side, just look to the sheathed Japanese katana swords that models carried as they strutted down the runway to strains of slinkily retro,Pink Panther-esque lounge music.Here, Wang’s flamboyantly frou-frou gowns had been ripped apart and either seamed back together or strung across the body with deliberate haphazardness, a subtle ode to the tenacity of the women—both real and fictional—who have inspired her own persistence as a designer. “The Bride’s quest isn’t really about revenge,” she said, referring to Thurman’sKill Billcharacter. “It’s about restoring her former self and finding her strength again. I think that can speak to any woman trying to overcome obstacles in her life.”Wang may have been exploring new thematic territory, but there were plenty of her reliable staples in the mix, from ruched wedding cake dresses to cropped and cozy faux fur coats. In terms of new riffs on her classics, prettiest of all were tops and skirts rendering classic cross-stitch florals in eye-catching sequins; a series of looks featured appealing candy-colored chrysanthemums on denim, while the final run of clingy knit dresses decorated with oversize floral corsages had a charmingly crafty quality to them.Finally, it only feels appropriate to check in on Misty the cat. Wang’s pet caused something of a sensation when she was carried down the runway last year as part of the designer’s fall 2022 show. At the memory of this, Wang erupts into coos of delight. “She’s grumpy with me right now, because I’m not home right,” she said, laughing, while also noting that Mistydidin fact make an appearance in the new collection, embroidered on baby pink silk satin skirts.
There’s always something quietly feline about Wang’s designs, but this season, her cat had claws.
19 February 2023
Sadly, Misty the cat was otherwise engaged for Yuhan Wang’s spring 2023 show, but the designer certainly delivered on pet favorites. She doubled down on the poetic printed pieces that have been making floral fans’ hearts soar since she graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2018, and underscored all that romanticism with a dash of the subversive as per.Wang, whose fall 2020 show inspired by mourning dress would certainly have felt apt this London Fashion Week, had been ruminating on flight this season. Specifically, apsaras: ethereal beings that inhabit the skies in some Asian cultures. “They are mainly depicted as female spirits, but in real life, we lose sight of the sparks of female aviators who displayed remarkable talent and bravery,” said Wang, who turned her attention to three game-changing pilots: Lee Ya-Ching, the first Chinese woman to be granted a civil aviation license in China; American Hazel Ying Lee, who flew for the Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II; and Amelia Earhart, who frequently crops up on designers’ mood boards. “I tried to create a collection that celebrates the persistence and courage of women as well as highlighting the pressures they face,” said Wang.It’s the likes of these references, combined with the flippy cuts and often tantalizingly sheer fabrications, that mean the Yuhan Wang aesthetic never errs on the side of saccharine. Sweet, yes. Sugary, no. There’s a quiet defiance to all that frilly lace and delicate drapery—especially when styled with this season’s pretty-tough, helmet-like headwear and parachute bags made for adventures. Other aviator touches came via waterproof nylons made feminine with hand-drawn florals and utility straps that leaned toward lingerie.Blink and you might have missed the sweet dove jewelry, but the sentiment of those peaceful winged creatures was present in the name of the collection: Beyond the Horizon. For now, these nostalgic dresses will take flight onto the wish lists of Wang devotees who always have room for another elaborate dress that stands for something.
18 September 2022
In a London Fashion Week first (as far as we’re aware, anyway) the star of Yuhan Wang’s latest show was none other than her cat. A chorus of coos rippled through the audience as Misty was carried down the runway, cradled in the arms of a model wearing a delightfully cozy faux fur coat with a matching bucket hat. “That issocute,” was the consensus.Wang’s offering this season was undeniably cute—who could resist her ribbed knits featuring fluffy cat motifs, or the leather dresses painted with some of Misty’s feline friends?—but it also had an air of sophistication. Throughout her time at the incubator program Fashion East, femininity was at the forefront for Wang, and this time it was too with a more grown-up twist. Titled “Venus in Furs,” the collection was one of her most wide-ranging yet, featuring everything from yeti-fabulous shearling-trimmed outerwear to feather-light embroidered slip dresses. “Who is Venus in 2022?” Wang said. “It’s not only about one type of woman.”Inspired in part by the ancient Himalayan tribal community of matriarchs known as the Mosuo, often referred to as the Kingdom of Women, Wang noted she was looking to foreground a steelier, more uncompromising vision of femininity than in seasons past. There were a handful of playful tailoring pieces in which to do so, some adorned with tie details, others in charmingly wonky proportions featuring grey floral jacquards. Still, the star of the show, as always, was Wang’s way around a gown, whether a billowing white cotton day dress adorned with a green floral print or a standout structured frock with ruched shoulders emerging as especially wearable highlights.Along with the cameo appearance from Misty, the collection was worn on the runway by a handful of London cool-girl models, including Kesewa Aboah, Stella Jones, and Lily McMenamy. It’s not hard to imagine them wearing one of Wang’s adorably perky dresses off-duty, too. Wang knows her woman well, and this season there was plenty for her to revel in.
20 February 2022
A disgustingly ugly acronym sprang up in the British news cycle over the past 24 hours: VAWG. It stands for violence against women and girls. It passed into currency yesterday, when the U.K. police watchdog announced VAWG is a national crime “epidemic.” Law enforcement should be treating VAWG with the same seriousness as terrorism, it urged.Awoman is killed by a man every three days in Britain,rape convictions have drastically fallen, andthree-quarters of all reports of domestic abuse never lead to charges.Yuhan Wang, like so many women in the U.K., felt “sad and angry” when she heard the Labour MP Jess Phillips read out the names of women who had been killed by a man in the past year in the House of Commons on March 21. “It was a complicated time for me to think how common it is,” said Wang. The femicide list included Sarah Everard, who was abducted, raped, and murdered by a policeman who had just finished a shift guarding the American embassy.“It kept reminding me of the fear women feel. It’s the 21st century—women shouldn’t feel vulnerable or live with fear,” said Wang, who’s Chinese. “I feel like it’s even worse in Asia. In China, the media is controlled. Definitely there’s something happening [there] to women, but probably we won’t be able to know about it.”Wang’s spring collection was—in a way—her part of the protest that erupted after Sarah Everard’s murder. “What I’ve been showing is this poetic, romantic softness, but I feel that is strength,” said Wang. This time, inspired by researching Victorian-era photographs of North American frontierswomen and ranchers, she symbolically armed her women. Hiding in plain sight on her first look, a green flower-printed trouser suit, was a green flower-printed pistol holster.The vaguely Western strand of her theme explained this season’s horse prints among Wang’s roses and butterflies. There were plenty of her signature drapey, lacy, pretty dresses; a continuation of her elaborate, elongated tapestry and embroidery slippers. It was the shape of her handbags that stood out though. The argument for carrying firearms as self-defense isn’t as loud in a society like the U.K. (where guns are all but illegal) as it is in the USA and others. Guns can’t be the solution for stopping the hatred some men have for women. But the fact that the armory stood out in Wang’s show has given her the chance to talk strongly about the issue that troubles women all over the world.
18 September 2021
If the costume designer ofBridgertonever needs an extra pair of hands, she could find an ideal hire in Yuhan Wang. Not that she’s a costume designer per se, but the pastel-hued, floral, romantic vision the Central Saint Martins M.A. alum has been working since 2018 would sit perfectly in a Regency drawing room—Wang even shot her last look book in a Georgian house. Hers is a world inhabited by girls in frilly, ruched, micro-flowered dresses in Directoire shoes—a place with a whimsical aura reminiscent of a ladylike 18th-century watercolor.So it fits the picture to discover that Wang actually did wend her way to being a fashion designer via her time as an art student at home in China. “I paint landscapes,” she said on a Zoom call from her studio in London. Lockdown had made her recall everything she knows about the cultural backdrop of the history of Tang Dynasty landscapes. “The painters created these fantasy-nature landscapes for noblemen to escape from the ordinary world. It was always done by men for men. So this season I wanted to make my own, for women and girls.”Her watercolors of sika deer and stylized pine trees became the beginnings of charming prints and embroideries; these form the vignettes she photographed on little groups of mothers, daughters, and girlfriends for fall. This season there are her signature, sinuously draped dresses, but also, among the lace and chintzy florals, more tailoring in the shape of flared trouser suits and some waisted coats and peplum jackets trimmed with raw-edge fringe. Pretty things designed for a time when perhaps we won’t be spending all our lives escaping into the latest episodes ofBridgerton. Much as we love it.
20 February 2021
London fashion week opened with Yuhan Wang’s delicately disturbing ode to Victorian mourning dress. Where was the specter of death among her lovely rosebud prints and ruched lace layers? Well, with apocalyptic climate and viral threats in the air, she’s surely well on the way to becoming fashion’s biggest influencer—never far from Alessandro Michele’s peripheral vision at Gucci, rising up in Rodarte’s references, and so on. But Wang, who sent out a facsimile 19th-century-style funeral notice as an invitation, regards demise awareness in more of a carpe diem light. “In Victorian times,” she said, “young, strong-minded women prepared for death in life. That foresight is invaluable in cherishing life in the now.”Today’s was her first stand-alone show after two seasons with Fashion East, on the morning when she was announced as a short-listed contender for the LVMH Prize. She isn’t really a paid-up goth. There’s something literary and romantic that inhabits Wang’s sensibility, intertwined with her Chinese identity. Before now, her sinuously stretchy Empire-line pastels and wonky picture hats have seemed to evoke something in the region of Kate Greenaway drawings, Jane Austen costumes, and Laura Ashley, but with a modernity captured by a young eye.It’s this confluence of qualities—her refined, feminine, yet unsugary aesthetic—that came through again on her fall runway, down to the soft, pointed pearl-buttoned slipper booties, which Wang had made in a factory in China. Beneath the veiled mourning hats, there were Wang’s translations of “walking suits” (Victorian and Edwardian anachronism), little matching peplum jackets, and fluted fishtail midiskirts. The deadstock cotton lace she uses frothed in the necks of jackets and was ruched into leggings worn under tunic dresses.London audiences have been craning to see what Wang does since she graduated from Central Saint Martins in the MA class of 2018. This collection, more complete, didn’t disappoint her fans. Now maybe she’ll be gaining more as she competes in the first round of the 2020 international LVMH Prize.
14 February 2020