Jason Wu is working his way through the four elements. Emerging from the watery depths of last season, he explored a dark forest—the setting for many a fairy tale—for fall. The aim, he said on a pre-show call, was to combine fantasy with “an element of darkness, something a little bit more sinister and interesting.” (Wu, like Sandy Olsson in Grease, is on a mission to revamp his image, and wants people to see him for who he is now, which is not the “polite and proper” person he was 15 years ago when he first became fashion’s darling.) It’s ironic that while the rest of the world is becoming obsessed with Capote’s swans, Wu is turning away from the ladylike finesse of his early work to lean into deconstruction. This is a technique he’s been playing with for several seasons now, and it likely connects back to the designer’s obsession with the work of Charles James, who, Wu said admiringly, made dresses as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside. James, by the way, is credited with creating one of the first puffer jackets and Wu showed a washed one, as well as coats with snaps up the center back allowing them to breeze open with a beautiful gesture.
Over the past year, Wu has continued to build on the tradition of American sportswear, showing an ever growing number of separates alongside the pretty dresses that he’s known for. This season’s opening look was a relaxed off-the-shoulder top and many-paneled skirt in gray jersey with a cobweb of exposed seams. A beautiful tulle embroidered top, light as an exhalation, was paired with black trousers, and tailored coats and jackets revealed their horsehair layers in a perfectly imperfect way. “There’s an idea of doing something that is super elevated, but at the same time something well worn,” Wu explained.
Softness, and a kind of emotional warmth, was important here, too. Wu made use of draping and swaddling—the latter a trend that has carried over from Copenhgen to New York. Fortuny-style pleated dresses had bark- or lamellae-like textures that also related back to the brittle ink lines of the drawings of 19th century illustrator Arthur Rackham, whose work also inspired the custom print in the collection.
The finale looks in the show owed something to James and, perhaps to Yohji Yamamoto, and were meant to convey a sense of undone-ness. By exposing their construction, the designer also started a conversation about the art, and complexity, of making clothes as well as challenging the idea that beauty must be synonymous with perfection. Aren’t we all works in progress?
Ever mindful of how difficult it can be to work in the industry, or even to sneak into a show these days, Wu invited 100 students to attend the show, including some studying with DooRi Chung, a former CFDA award winner, at Marist. “I really want to do something that’s not just only for me, because I believe in the talent that’s in New York,” said Wu. His collection provided another reason to do so.
