Like many of his colleagues in Shanghai, Haizhen Wang has been hard at work off the runway focusing on the commercial side of his business. At a walkthrough of his new collection, he said he looked back at the ’80s for inspiration, particularly the inverted triangle silhouette of a sharp, wide shoulder and a narrow waist, which was seen across the fall show from New York to Paris.
Wang is a true maker in addition to being a designer, so his examination of this style of dressing was about its appearances in popular culture (see Working Girl) and more rooted in updating its construction. The way he treated the shoulder was particularly worth pointing out. His jackets were cut wide but made to cave at the natural shoulder line, emphasizing the body instead of engulfing it in fabric. On his outerwear—like a roomy cheetah coat paired with a cheetah skirt in a different tonality—he rounded out the shoulder rather than making it protrude. This was balanced with longline coats tailored slim but with extra pointy peak lapels to retain the retro vibe of the collection.
To add a layer of interest and to break up the dressiness of the lineup, Wang resurrected a fabric he designed a decade ago when he was based in London, a map of the city developed as a print, here rendered as a truly beautiful acid washed denim in a distressed jacquard. Wang makes clothes that belong on the runway, but it’s been satisfying to see him translate his skills into a more commercial space so seamlessly.