Uma Wang is the best advocate for her wabi-sabi fashion proposal. Blessed with a relaxed sense of style that nevertheless spells polish, she always cuts an elegant figure when she appears at the end of the runway to take her bow. At today’s show, held in the 19th-century former headquarters of BNP Paribas bank, she looked characteristically at ease, dressed in a sloppy, paint-speckled silk shirt and faded, wide-leg pants, her glossy black hair bobbing as she fielded questions backstage. The location played into Wang’s fascination with dilapidation: BNP Paribas recently quit the building, leaving it with a forlorn air of humbled grandeur.
For spring, she had been inspired by memories of Venice. A frequent traveler to Italy, where the Shanghai-based designer’s clothes are produced, Wang spoke backstage of the outlines of crumbling arches, the salty smell of the laguna, the water marks on the walls combining to create a Venice-specific mood of “melancholy.” “Everything is so humid there,” she said, “the colors are always changing, the walls are fading.” Her collection had that same poetic sense of attenuation, conveyed via midiskirts that were crinkled like discarded paper bags, in raw-edged brocade corset tops, in trailing silk dresses. Most interesting was a tapestry-like fabric that had been shredded in undulating waves, as though it had been hanging in a window at the Palazzo Fortuny, only to be attacked by a pack of moths, synchronized in their munching.
Despite these experiments with fabric and form, Wang’s personal style lent the collection a welcome dose of wearability. Linen tailoring in faded cream and gray that was gathered at the hip had a slouchy appeal, as did an artsy handkerchief-hemmed silk shirt-and-skirt combination in moody blue (it helped that it was worn by the striking 56-year-old, gray-haired model Sylke Golding, who also walks for Balenciaga). Equally appreciated was the addition of pockets in a silk maxidress, which paired neatly with an oversize blazer. Grown-up fans of grunge will find much to like here.
