Sankuanz

Zhe Shangguan’s avant-garde line Sankuanz has become established in Paris. Mixing caustic graphic design with a conceptual approach, the former Xiamen University graphic design student has made himself relevant. His twist on the Nasa logo in the spring 2017 collection did so well that Vans, Heron Preston or Coach all collaborated with the American space agency on fashion items the following year. Sankuanz showed its 2019 autumn collection with womenswear and menswear at Sotheby’s in Paris. Known for his technical outwear, sweatshirts and sneakers, the designer added a surprising layer of his creative arsenal with dark sartorial garments paired with edgy silver jewellery. The unconventional collection showed how he is evolving.

Sean Suen (menswear)

Chinese designer Sean Suen launched his eponymous label in Beijing in 2012. While Suen made his debut at spring/summer 2016, nowadays it’s part of the official Paris calendar. The fashion designer rethinks his Chinese aesthetics by adapting them to his vision of contemporary man with strong storytelling. Suen’s autumn/winter 2019 collection entitled “Ghost Town” was inspired by the flooding of his Fengdu childhood home during construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

All the models appeared with wet hair on the runway. The first silhouettes were elegantly tailored with asymmetric white and black jackets. Then, garments in shades of grey were more casual, a little bit destroyed, washed out and dull. The designer played with the hem of the trousers and sleeves by rolling them up as exaggerated cuffs. The voluminous coats were closed by a belt, brilliantly engineered as a long zip wrapped around the waist. Oversized bags felt like a fishing net. The collection finished with beautiful garments made of colourful prints and patch works.

Angus Chiang

Taiwanese-born Angus Chiang is probably the most popular East Asian designer with a millennial audience across the globe. His autumn 2019 collection entitled “Back at One” is an ode to the return of a rural lifestyle, at peace with mother nature. The venue was transformed into a local Taiwanese market in humorous fashion, with fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, using hit rock songs of the singer Billie Wan.

Using women and men in his runway shows, the garments were inspired by daily work attire of those working in agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry. The colourful clothing mixed sea blues and dark brown soils with nineties styles of blue, coral, pink and yellow. His signature colour, orange, was the stand-out of the collection. The designer showcased two likely future bestsellers. One was a graphic T-shirt with a retro feel in collaboration with Fruit of the Loom and the other Nike Air Max Dia created by a four-female footwear collective (a designer, engineer, developer and product manager).

Yang Li

Beijing-born, London-based designer Yang Li displayed his eponymous brand in Paris. The fashion designer is building his menswear collection as a fictional band called “SAMIZDAT”, which means “self-publish” in Russian, used for the clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned during Soviet times. Early 1980s industrial metal bands Godflesh and Ramesses provided the inspiration for Li’s autumn/winter 2019 menswear collection entitled “Cosmic Terror”. The SAMIZDAT collection was conceptualised as concert merchandising, but has evolved with each collaboration.

Li will reveal official dates for future live performances by bands. The collection went beyond basic concert merchandising like graphic T-shirts and hoodies for autumn 2019 to incorporate military garments such as belted double-breasted trench coats and burgundy-coloured MA-1 bomber jackets. Gothic sleeve patches or huge visual backpatches of metal bands were sewn onto the dark clothing.

Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter