Yahoo Movies Wooyoungmi Men’s Fall 2022
Upon discovering “A Gentleman in Moscow,” the novel by Amor Towles about a Russian count sentenced to house arrest for life, South Korean designer Woo Young Mi couldn’t help but see the parallels with our ongoing pandemic-related circumstances.
“I liked the way this man found humanity and elegance, and then the energy to keep this attitude his whole life,” she said before the show, adding her belief that true elegance came from being “warm-hearted.”
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While no wardrobe can provide that, Wooyoungmi’s coed fall collection offered a host of cold-weather options in which the designer kept layers thin, piled on shirts over turtlenecks, added a jacket and over that, puffers or even a knit vest — without ending up bulky. Bare legs here and there nodded to the times’ stay-at-home tropes, as did cropped proportions.
As is her wont, there were subtle tweaks that reflected her seasonal inspiration, like tabs to keep jackets closed, a rounded sleeve shape that kept the air out or triangular capelets that nodded to the traditional outfits of Orthodox clerics.
Muted nuances and fuzzy knits were influenced by the work of Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky, who captured early 20th-century Russia in color photographs, and softened the lineup’s utilitarian leanings. It also informed the marled dyes seen on smart denim. These tactile materials felt like a textile metaphor for the book’s emphasis on human connection.
Asked about the contrast between those fuzzy layers and the sharper outlook of her lineup, she explained they were an expression of her intention to offer “something that people keep building on.” Given this solidly executed lineup, her customers — including a growing proportion of women, with that line now open for wholesale distribution — might well do just that.
Launch Gallery: Wooyoungmi Men's Fall 2022
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