Proenza Schouler F/W 2012 — Review

• Story-telling
• Silhouettes
• Inspiration & References
• Main Outfits

To watch the full show go to Proenza Schouler f/w 2012

Story-telling  

Most design­ers cre­ate their col­lec­tion think­ing of a story they want to tell. This is a way of mak­ing more clear to the audi­ence what is their message.

 Proenza Schouler design­ers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack Mc Collough were inspired by Martial Arts orig­i­nal from China and Japan, such as Karate uni­forms and samu­rai amours. The chal­lenge was to trans­form this uni­forms, rather basic and mas­cu­line, into young, cool, and sexy ready-to-wear out­fits.

Silhouettes   

These are the body shapes that remain through­out the collection.

Inspiration & References   

1) Protection Uniforms: the design­ers explored the idea of pro­tec­tion through mar­tial arts. We can see this influ­ence in the padded details, tie clo­sures, asym­me­try, quilt­ing and over­sized silhouettes.

Karate gi
… is a mar­tial art devel­oped in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. Karate is a strik­ing art using punch­ing, kick­ing, knee and elbow strikes. The phi­los­o­phy is “to purge one­self of self­ish and evil thoughts. For only with a clear mind and con­science can the prac­ti­tioner under­stand the knowl­edge which he receives.” “…one should be “inwardly hum­ble and out­wardly gen­tle. Only by behav­ing humbly can one be open to Karate’s many lessons.” 

Kendo
… mean­ing “Way of The Sword”, is a mod­ern Japanese mar­tial art of sword-fighting based on tra­di­tional swords­man­ship which orig­i­nated with the samu­rai class of feu­dal Japan.It’s a phys­i­cally and men­tally chal­leng­ing activ­ity that com­bines strong mar­tial arts val­ues with sport-like phys­i­cal ele­ments. Kendo train­ing is quite noisy because kendo uses a shout to express their fight­ing spirit when strik­ing.

Cheongsam / Qipao
… When the Manchu ruled China dur­ing the Qing Dynasty, women typ­i­cally wore a one-piece dress that ret­ro­spec­tively came to be known as the qípáo, also called “cheongsam”. The qipao fit­ted loosely and hung straight down the body. Under the dynas­tic laws after 1636, most Han Chinese were forced to wear qipao instead of tra­di­tional Han Chinese cloth­ing, under penalty of death. The mod­ern ver­sion, which is now rec­og­nized pop­u­larly in China, was first devel­oped in Shanghai in the 1920s. Women trans­formed the old qipao to suit their tastes. Slender and form-fitting with a high cut. It was high-class cour­te­sans and celebri­ties that would make these redesigned qipao pop­u­lar at that time.

2) Buthan Handicrafts: col­or­ful bar­ket weav­ing inspired the leather tex­tures and the color palette cre­at­ing amaz­ing fabrications. 

Kudzu
… is native to Japan and China. Kudzu is a vine that when left uncon­trolled will even­tu­ally grow over almost any fixed object in its prox­im­ity includ­ing other veg­e­ta­tion. Kudzu it’s easy to find in Bhutan and it has long been used for bas­ketry. Most com­mu­ni­ties sell this crafts to sus­tain their fam­i­lies.

3) Street style: sweat­shirts and Varsity Jackets.

Proenza’s mod­ern image and fresh orig­i­nal­ity is usu­ally achieved includ­ing street-style or sports­wear gar­ments to the col­lec­tion. The Varsity jack­ets and over­sized sweat­shirts treated with tra­di­tional crafts and unex­pected fab­rics are a strong state­ment.

Main Outfits    

These are the main out­fits that can sum-up the col­lec­tion. All the other out­fits are inspired by them. The designer plays with these sil­hou­ettes, col­ors, mate­ri­als, treat­ments and con­struc­tion to develop the full col­lec­tion. This is the way design­ers rein­force the pro­posal for the sea­son.