The Tamesis
Lei Liushu and Jiang Yutong put on one of the busiest shows at Shanghai Fashion Week this season, thanks in large part to the excitement of the Shushu/Tong girls who flocked to the Labelhood venue to watch. The brand’s core appeal seems to be epitomized in Ray’s explanation of why they call the collection “Invented Self”: “She’s the kind of girl who has her own personality outside of her family.”
Lei and Jiang’s series was particularly inspired by Claude Chabrol’s 1978 true-crime art film Violette Nozière, starring Isabelle Huppert as a 1930s teenager forced to wage a deadly rebellion against an overbearing and abusive family. The designers drew on looks from the 1930s and 1940s, then applied an ultra-stylized and ultra-feminine filter that was most often expressed through the ceremonial bending of the right elbow, with a branded handbag dangling from almost every look.
Shrunk opaque cardigans, plaid pencil skirts, stirrup-high knee socks, embossed velvet ruffled gowns draped around the body like stage curtains, Peter Pan-collared coats and cutely cut shift dresses were some of the many ladylike touches with which Lei and Chang constructed their heroines. As is often the case in Shanghai this week, there were low-waisted dresses and skirts, and plenty of bows.
While viewers have definitely attested to the appeal of these full-on ensembles of fringe clothing (after all, the collection is designed for personal reinvention), it’s the ones that rely less on period and drama that seem most likely to be personal. The washed lemon nylon ruffled seamed track suit from Look 17, and the outstanding quarter-zip low-rise pleated skirt dress from Looks 2 and 29 in a dark dense cotton blend are the highlights of the category. This time a track top paired with shorts was also shown in pastel blue on male models: it was one of several looks that Ray and Jiang’s womenswear tried rather convincingly on menswear.
