This Jacques Wei collection was made in 20 days. At a re-see in his show space at an extravagant salon atop a boutique hotel in HuangPu—Wei is one of two key names in Shanghai to show off-schedule and independently of Shanghai Fashion Week—the designer said there were two big reasons for the mad dash.
The first: Jacques Wei is H&M’s latest designer collaborator. He’s created a collection that will be available early next year across Asia-Pacific to mark the Chinese New Year. The 30-or-so pieces jibe with his opulent aesthetic, only at more accessible prices, and feature golden brooches in equine shapes commemorating the year of the horse. The second: Wei spent most of the time allotted to this collection working on his fabrics. He said that materials were a priority this time around, which made for a clever way of differentiating between his eponymous collection and what he’s made for the affordable fashion giant.
Wei works based on instinct and his general mood, and it must be said that he’s one fabulous vibe-architect. This season he looked at the 1980s, referencing colors, materials, and proportions. “It just feels like a joyful time,” he said, speaking of the look of the era. “I think we all need that, I know I do,” he explained.
True to form, he leaned into the bourgeois look of the decade. Wei used hammered silk brocades in deep midnight blue and gold, the former embellished with flower-like clusters of beads and sequins and the latter with bugle beads and shimmering paillettes. He cut these materials into mini skirts and collarless jackets with strong shoulders, which also appeared on jersey blouses with collars fit close to the neck but open in the back: “To make it more now,” he said, “it’s sexier and less covered up.”
Wei said he found jersey to be most forgiving—a promising discovery for a designer who works mostly with silks and georgettes, the kinds of fabrics that reveal every crease, pucker, and stitch. He draped and shirred it into swaying minis and frilly tops and one super flattering column gown, all with a flirtatious joie de vivre. This was a nice contrast to the excess of neutrals on the runways in Shanghai—and elsewhere—this season. If the economic landscape has subdued fashion into a state of ennui, that’s not the case chez Jacques Wei. He truly does make clothes for the nonconformist. And how fun was it to see his colors and prints in an ocean of ivory silks and black tailoring.
