Blackpink’s Lisa wears his looks, Chanel’s president of fashion mentored him: how designer Robert Wun is subverting haute couture
- Robert Wun is the only designer from Hong Kong to ever show during Paris Haute Couture Week – and his looks challenge our assumptions about couture
- He reflects on his early career, the game-changing collection he released via Instagram in 2021 and how Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli has inspired him
“I just really want this first collection to open up the conversation about what couture could be,” says Robert Wun, sitting in his East London studio.
Eschewing the rarefied atmosphere of flawless beauty that couture has traditionally sought to produce, the designer presented a collection that challenged assumptions. From gowns stained with wine to dresses with gaping holes as if burned by cigarettes, a concept of “fashion accidents” set the scene for a highly charged medley of fear and fantasy.
The designer relates “Armour’s” stratospheric success to the deeply personal emotions it drew on. “I was trying to be at peace with the fact I’d left home to pursue my dream, which meant I spent less time with my family,” he says.
“My grandmother raised me; we slept in the same bedroom until I came to London. I wanted to make sense of all the grief, and somehow that connected with a lot of people.”