Caroline Hu showed a series of one-of-a-kind pieces in a dilapidated Paris apartment, whose dark, moody atmosphere somehow offset the lineup’s flamboyance, its intricate execution and the vibrancy of printed surfaces. Generous plays of draping and layering made every creation a fantastical, voluminous presence, each taking lots of space and attention. “It’s about relationships and keeping a distance,” said Hu rather cryptically.
Hu starts every collection from her oil paintings, which capture personal feelings she then translates into textiles and patterns; shapes are fashioned directly on mannequins. This season the feeling was of struggling. “Lots is happening in the world now,” she said. “Politics, the economy, everything is harder, there’s darkness around me, so I wanted to create something to protect people from this darkness, creating a world of romance and fantasy, because life needs hope.”
Colors were bright and saturated, with flashes of black as a counterpoint; smocked silk and tiered tulle, vintage crocheted lace and plastic lanyards, overlays of beaded and sequined silks were layered and draped into abstract, imaginative shapes—some lean and liquid, some billowy and airy, some bulky. A standout was a concoction of yards of black tulle suspended over a bulging crinoline made of inflatable pillows, printed in vivid hues of green and pink, then appliquéd with round-shaped sequined rosettes. Artsy and imaginative, Hu’s creations seemed born out of spontaneous, emotional gestures turned into beauty and fantasy.
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