With a mission to celebrate artisanship and champion the next generation of fashion designers, K11 in collaboration with the V&A presents The Love of Couture – Artisanship in Fashion Beyond Time. This unique collaborative exhibition displays bespoke couture from six leading East Asian designers inspired by historical British and French womenswear from the V&A’s Fashion collection. The exhibition, which opened with a preview during K11 NIGHT gala, explores connections between East and West, past and the present, changes across time and how for centuries designers have drawn inspiration from a range of cultures.
Six promising young fashion visionaries from Japan, China, South Korea and Hong Kong have been commissioned by K11 to create new bespoke designs inspired by the V&A historical pieces including Tomo Koizumi, Ryunosuke Okazaki, Sensen Lii, Celine Kwan, Yueqi Qi and Sohee Park. Each equipped with a unique outlook and sense of style, the designers give the audience a great opportunity to rethink the connection between the past, present and future of fashion. These new works will be showcased alongside some of the designers’ existing creations, offering a broader perspective of their creative visions and definitions of couture.
The exhibition has been curated by William Chang Suk Ping, the internationally renowned and award-winning Hong Kong Production Designer, supported by Tim Reeve, Deputy Director and COO at the V&A and Dr. Claire Allen-Johnstone, Project Curator at the V&A. It sets out to bridge Western European traditions with eastern innovation, paying homage to the extraordinary creativity, rich history, refined craftsmanship and boundless possibilities of couture.
Historical British and French womenswear from the V&A will be displayed as part of the exhibition. The twelve pieces, shown in Hong Kong for the first time, chronicle the evolution of British and French womenswear fashions from the 1830s to around 1960, and serve as the muse for the six up-and-coming East Asian fashion designers. The emerging designers’ task is to draw inspiration from these exhibits, dissect and re-contextualise their structure, fabric, function, and craft original bespoke couture works that stir nostalgia while exuding a contemporary, innovative and distinctively East Asian sensibility. The process is intended to trace how fashion changes over time as it is a constant amalgamation of various cultures and influences, and to imagine what the future of fashion entails.
Adrian Cheng, Chair of K11 Night, comments: “Fashion throughout history is reflective of how traditions, craftsmanship, creativity and societies continue to evolve. I am thrilled to present this exhibition in collaboration with the V&A and work with our brilliant designers who have all in their own individual way, reinvented and modernized history with their unique perspective and talent. This collaboration truly reflects my mission to create a deeper cultural exchange between east and west by providing a platform for next generation talent.”
