CALVINLUO Fall/Winter 2021 Collection
The Collection
Ten years is the usual measure of an era, and while ten collections hardly add up to a decade, it marks a special milestone for Calvin Luo.
This anniversary reminds us of how much Calvin has achieved since his first collection. He was 20 years old when he showed in New York for the first time. He entered the New York official calendar at 22 and the Paris official calendar at 24. His collections have habited legendary venues such as the Whitney Museum in New York and Maxim’s in Paris and are now finding creative ways to exist digitally.
The CALVINLUO Fall/Winter 2021 collection celebrates its icons while it ushers the brand into a new era: the iconic cropped blazer recurs in richer colors and fabrics, the simple and crisp long windbreaker is now embellished with a textural metal chain, the abstract sequin embroidery – borrowed from the oversized dresses of previous seasons – now adorns an every-day camisole, basic sweaters and stretch knit shirts vibrate in colored patchworks. The icons are emboldened.
The collection is all encompassing. Calvin ambitiously designed its staging to be all embracing.
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Front Row & Backstage
The accelerated change of the past year has propelled many exciting alternatives to a traditional fashion show and industry conversations are very much driven by questions about what shows will look like « post crisis ». To Calvin, two important elements have been missing: the role front row guests play in building the excitement of a show and the electric energy of backstage.
Calvin Luo has always carefully curated who seats front row at his shows. It was always important to him that his front row guests represent eclecticism; give the pulse of the times; an interpretation of his designs by strong women. CALVINLUO ambitiously enrolled 100 women in its “Front Row” project. The invited actresses, artists, editors, stylists, buyers and other brand enthusiasts styled one look of the collection and sent back two pictures: one standing mimicking their arrival at the show and one seating mimicking seating front row. These collected images will be presented as a separate body of content used to promote Fall/Winter 2021 throughout the season.
Departing from the traditionally curated collection assets, Calvin presents his collection as if one were backstage right before a physical show. The film and images capture the electric energy when the designer, the stylist and the model frantically give the last touches to each look. The raw nature of its content shares more intimate views on the collection.
This mix of “in person » and “remote » signals the way CALVINLUO wishes to move forward: protecting intimate interaction with his audience while promoting common growth.