‘Softness is power – we don’t need to dress like men’ asserts designer Yuhan Wang who presented her second collection on the fashion east platform. Wang’s delicate designs are fashioned in silk satins, in lace, velvet and tulle to ripple and flounce around the female form. Deceptively simple sheath and tea dresses are given dimensions and tension with artfully placed ruches and gathers that dance across the body. ‘I think of it as the push and pull we experience as women. The constant dialogue between our and inner and outer worlds’ says Wang who fuses East and West aesthetics in her work.
The palette is of cornflower blue, lilac, pea green, lilac and primrose yellow and is informed by watercolour illustrations of Victorian women. Wang took to painting herself to create the impressionistic rose flower print for a pretty silk satin midi dress. Lace ribbons, crochet flowers and fabric covered guillotine toed shoes lend a dainty, airy feel to the look. The leaf and flower brass jewellery, belts and eyepieces are hand crafted by fellow Central St. Martins graduate, Kay Guo.
