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Saturday 15 September 2012

COLLECTION| YIFANG WAN S/S 13




A sophisticated progression from her previous collection, Central Saint Martin’s Graduate Yifang Wang continues a theme of oversized angled block belts and a monochrome colour palette.  Coming from the theme of optical illusion, Yifang has built a signature approach to her design by taking the minimal and expanding the idea of less being more. Her first show during London Fashion Week, the designer’s debut onto the catwalk here at Vauxhall Fashion Scout today drew the attention of an eager crowd as the lights went down.

The girls walked strong and warrior-esque in kimono style shapes calling on themes of martial arts and interlocking layers of fabric. Defined lines work together with black on black that bring out the delicate balance of proportions that Yifang creates in her pieces.  Loose tailoring is paired with geometric shaped separates that give a sense of ambiguity and mystery; it’s all about the fluidity of fabric in this collection where multiple layers seem as one.  A sense of simplicity and originality are the starting points for this collection as the young designer explores architectural structures with a focus on cut and fabric. Long plays with short, soft with hard and the hidden becomes the revealed in subtle slits and deep cuts that show a balance in her design.

Clever in her use of shape, Yifang Wan introduces just a couple of white pieces throughout the collection, where the black pieces serve as the backdrop for the shapes that the whites create. Like negative space, the collection brings out the bigger details showing intricacy in the simplicity. Tied together with angled block resin belts the pieces come together concisely and definitively. Long coats, loose fitted shorts and flowing layers of fabrics created a collection that brought Yifang Wan’s design aesthetic to the forefront in her debut Vauxhall Fashion Scout show.

Text by Vanessa Omoregie  (@wewearblack)
Images by Lauren Marsh