CALVINLUO Spring/Summer 2022 Collection
Paris Fashion Week | October 3 2021
The 70’s Trilogy: Punk, Pop Art & Hippie
“They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
——Andy Warhol
The 1970s is without a doubt the most glaring era in the history of modern fashion. It was bold and singular. Baby boomers expressed their individuality, the women’s rights movement climaxed and society was ushered into an unprecedented stage of « making our own decisions ». The world entered a time of rapid change. These sudden changes would not have happened without the burgeoning of precedent underground movements and the passionate endeavor of countless pioneers.
Social movements from the 1960s birthed the fashion revolution of the 1970s: Hippie fashion entered mainstream, the rebellious underground rock’n’roll culture set the punk stage with a sharp, distinct look and eclecticism and fashion met the arts to birth pop art.
Half a century ago, the response to social change had a seismic impact on fashion. We stand at a crossroad of similar disruption; we can anticipate big changes in fashion. Calvin Luo is looking back at iconic fashion movements from the 1970s with optimism for the changes to come.
A departure from the linear release process of a traditional fashion collection, the CALVINLUO Spring/Summer 2022 Collection is divided in three chapters – Punk, Pop Art and Hippie. Each is modeled by an Asian supermodel – Sora Choi, He Cong and Kiko Mizuhara. Each being pioneers and trailblazers in the own right.
Calvin succeeds at harmoniously incorporating his signatures – tailoring, knit sets, plaid and metalware with archetypal 1970’s stapples – short blazer coats and mini-skirts, comfortable sweaters and dramatically pleated bud skirts – in bright grass green, earth tones and deep black. It results in interesting merges like novel buckles, buttons and metal element decorations creating reasonable yet unexpected surprises and matches full of contrasts like retro-inspired nude pleated skirt and cream yellow single-breasted blazer, two-tone lace- up sandals, colorful blazer coats, see-through knitted trousers and sports sets.
Fashion from the 1970s arouse emotions and nostalgia in all of us. For Calvin it is because the changes can be traced back to the people. In these similarly disruptive times, Calvin Luo looks for the momentum of “going forward” with the attitude of “looking back”.
