As creatives, our spirits are stamped into our art. The essence of individual personality is translated strongly into our work that carries our messages, conveys challenges, and advances themes to others. As such, we form a bond when we find a point of resonance in each other’s work. This is what we understand as the concept of community today. From traditional garments to contemporary trends, fashion is a vehicle that projects the diversity of our individuality while also carrying an element of similarity that connects us to others. However, the fashion industry is a force powered by centering Western ideals and excluding everything that cannot be constrained into this strict category. To succeed in a discriminatory industry, many find themselves relinquishing their identities to prove their capability with this industry in order to grant their creations a chance. It becomes easy to forget what fashion sought to do in the first place: to celebrate a diversity of different approaches and self-expression through acknowledging the beauty of individualism. With barriers set in the industry, fashion cannot set out to express our spirits. Instead, its purpose becomes a tool solely for endless consumerist trend cycles.

The fashion industry is also overridden with hope. With the rise of new generations and the growing desire to widen the scope of inclusion, the fashion industry undergoes constant transformation. The greatest gift fashion can contribute to its creation is to succeed in using the process of fashion designing as story-telling, paving a path for self-growth. This thought crossed my mind recently when I was introduced to the work of Robert Wun, a Hong Kong-born fashion designer currently based in London. Contrary to the creative environment I was surrounded with as a young artist, Robert Wun, who boldly centered his purpose in the fashion industry as an expedition to provoke ideas normalized in the industry, such as Western beauty standards, misogyny, and racism. Though his collections are vast in style, his work is easily recognizable due to his details of asymmetrical shapes, delicate folds, colors, and items of clothing that are reminiscent of nature yet ultra-modern. Additionally, every collection embodies a sense of freedom, appreciation of femininity and a reflective conversation where tradition is respected while creating a move towards the future. Just as gender conformity becomes de-centered in contemporary society and pop culture, change is also reflected in his approach that disregards the male gaze in pursuit of a gender liberation approach.

The most familiar Chinese representation I encountered during my childhood was Hua Mulan, a story recalling a woman who disguised herself as a man to take her father’s place in the army. This story was my favorite to play on my TV. The Disney adaptation was one of the only places where I could find a counterpart just like me, a Chinese girl. Due to the Disney adaptation, most people have probably heard of this story and can recall the nostalgic scenes of Mulan cutting her hair off with a sword, the catchy songs and, of course, the protagonist’s resilience. In tribute to Robert Wun’s cultural heritage, his SS19 collection is largely inspired by the story of Hua Mulan. While taking traditional and easily recognizable aspects of the story and its cultural impact, he adds a contemporary twist that speaks not only to current culture and society but also to the future.

He acknowledges the original story by opening the collection with the calligraphy of Hua Mulan - 花木兰, directly centering this story in his work. Each garment in the collection features genderless drapery, complimentary colors and delicacy paired with a sense of boldness. He pays homage to Hua Mulan’s namesake by adding flowers to his models that complement the color they wear. When I first viewed this collection, I recognized Hua Mulan as the grounding inspiration quickly. Simultaneously, I was introduced to a new narrative that Wun presented. The collection celebrates femininity and immortalizes a traditional story of female empowerment through a fashion collection that is innovative and well-received among contemporary audiences. One of the messages I receive from this collection is his devotion to feminism and dedication to contribute further equality to the fashion industry. This mission teaches us that rather than assimilating into an industry that excludes us, we can instead position ourselves to create a space that is more just, not only for others who are like us but to honor ourselves.

His collections allow us to consider how rising generations will transform the meaning of creation and fashion. Various boundaries involved in fashion-designing are broken in his processes. Most recently, his Couture Spring 2023 collection explores the concept of fear not through rejection but through using fear as a tool to create the work. For example, his processes included shattering, staining, and destroying his work to create something new. As a result, fear transformed from a dimension that constrained him to a tool he overcame and learned to use as a mechanism. This thought derives from his commitment to feminism, as he rejects the classic notion of transforming an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan but instead claims fear and gains control. Fear often guides and constrains our work as artists and humans. However, we can learn that with acceptance of fear, we can collaborate with the notion of the unknown to break the boundaries of our creations.

Robert Wun, as a result, demonstrates control of material forms and accesses his artistic potential and paves yet another innovative path for the future of creation by taking advantage of what artists often consider failures. Though his collections are diverse in narratives and story-telling, each collection teaches us that we must overcome the individualized nature of the fashion industry. Fashion is more than an individual; it is a collectivity. When we recognize this, we can move forward together.

Website: https://www.robertwun.com
Instagram: @robertwun

Article by Kairui Cheng, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Design Coordinator, PhotoBook Magazine

ROBERT WUN AND THE SPIRIT OF CREATION: STORLY-TELLING AND IDENTITY-MAKING THROUGH FASHION