Breaking news: Feng Chen Wang is in at Under Armour. After months of speculation swirling around whether she was up for a top position at the sportswear company, she confirmed to Vogue Runway during a pre-show preview today that she had taken a role there. Her title won’t be creative director, however, but “Long Term Creative Partner.” The first official chapter of the collection debuted this afternoon during a runway presentation that took place in the baking hot colonnade of the Odeon Theatre, and included scarlet hooded tracksuits and black cropped sheeny jackets with knot-tie (pankou) fastenings.
It was part of a larger seasonal story in Wang’s modus operandi of East-meets-West. The collection was half inspired by Botticelli’s Primavera and half by the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, a group of scholars and artists who were active in China in the 3rd century. This meant botanical prints on workwear jackets and dark denim dyed with an iridescent metallic sheen that were intended to recall gold ground paintings, which sat well with the sportier UA looks.
The strongest parts were the later monochrome pieces that toned down the noise and allowed Wang’s talent for draping to shine through: white rippling high-necked blouses and Renaissance-style ruffled shirts brought the romance, layered under dandyish tailoring that had been dyed with a vertical gradient effect. Elsewhere, asymmetric shirting that cascaded across the torso in a nod to traditional Chinese dress.
“I’ve always been very interested in how the clothes are connected to the body, not just during sports, but how they move,” said the ever-excitable designer during a preview, as a dutiful gaggle of friends and attendants fanned her in the sweltering backstage heat. “It’s like a new version of a bridge [to bring us] closer to each other. This is what I’m doing. It’s not just one side, or one country. I think the world is connected as one.” By blurring the boundaries of cultures, eras, tailoring, and now more sportswear, Wang’s work speaks resolutely of the future.
