THIS IS CLAIRE (QINGWEN) HUANG, A FASHION DESIGNER GRADUATED FROM CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS WHO HAS WORKED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF RETAIL MARKETING IN CARTIER AS WELL AS THE DEPARTMENT OF DESIGN IN THOM BROWNE AND SIMONE ROCHA IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. HER OWN BRAND, KINGWEN, IS BASED IN SHANGHAI AND LONDON, AND AIMS TO COMBINE MODERN AESTHETICS WITH CLASSIC FAIRYTALES OR PAINTINGS. UNDER THE THEME OF ROMANTICISM, CLAIRE IS USING GRADUAL COLOUR CHANGING SHEER FABRICS TO REPLICATE THE TEXTURES AND PIGMENTS THAT REOCCUR IN OIL PAINTINGS. HER PIECES HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED ON VOGUE ITALY, KINGKONG, V MAGAZINE COVER STORY ETC., AND WORN BY MANY CELEBRITIES FOR GALAS AND EDITORIALS.

Inspiration:

The inspiration came to me on a trip to Cambodia; I’d seen monks traversing the corridors of a temple draped in red robes as the sunlight beamed in through from the outside. It carved out the shadows in the folds and creases, illuminated the vibrancy of the fabric highlighted by the sun, and it made me think— what would the monks look like walking through the Palace of Versailles in the post-modern era?

Maybe the traditional monks will wander under the decayed and fading crystal lamps, like the ones created by Korean sculptor Lee Bul. I wanted to reimagine them in a more avantgarde setting, and thus this collection was born.

It’s romantic; my works never stray far from exploring the female form and femininity. There’s a lot of draping and ombré colour palettes, soft fabrics like sheer chiffon that are highly structured yet remain delicate, in hues of blue and purple with the splashes of red peaking through.

[foogallery id=”1903″]