FASHIONALLY - Editor's Picks on FASHIONALLY Collection #15

Editor's Picks on FASHIONALLY Collection #15

HOME ▸ FEATURES ▸ Editor's Picks on FASHIONALLY Collection #15 | Sarah Lam @MANIFESTO

2020.10.11

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Sarah Lam, Senior Fashion Editor of MANIFESTO

We picked the brains of fashion editors from major fashion publications who style their favourite looks, share their thoughts on Hong Kong designers and reveal their take on the latest trends

We invited Sarah Lam, Senior Fashion Editor of MANIFESTO, to style her favourite looks off the phygital runway of FASHIONALLY Collection #15 while sharing her insights on new fashion trends that have arisen out of the pandemic experience and voicing her support for Hong Kong designers.

Can you tell us about your look?
I’ve styled this beautiful linen blouse by Tak L. in a minimal, natural way. I’m matching this blouse with my old CÉLINE pleated trousers to create a relaxed and effortless feeling, completing the look with a Chanel chained belt worn as a necklace. This look will be good for the office with a pair of loafers, a night out with a pair of mules, a weekend getaway with a pair of sandals, and trainers for everyday wear.

What do you love about the items you are wearing?
The blouse I’m wearing is from emerging designer Tak Lee. The accent of Tak L. very much reminded me of the traditional Japanese Wabi-sabi aesthetic, it’s about the imperfect perfection, ugly beauty, the incomplete, raw and rustic details, which translates into something surprisingly amazing. The material is linen that I love, it’s natural and good for the environment. Every time you throw any synthetic garments into the washing machine, tons and tons of plastic components that can’t be decomposed are flushed into the ocean. Eventually that goes back into our body through the cycle of the food chain.

Linen is a very comfy material to wear during summer time and also for transitional seasons. I can just throw on some knitwear items like a vest or short sleeve jumper to create a layering effect. The silhouette and especially the buttons at the front of this blouse somehow reminded me of the costumes from the Victorian era. The little gathers provided a bit of volume and shape to the sleeves of the blouse. Raw edges and the contrasting colour of the top stitches shows the Wabi-sabi influence, and contrasts with the feminine shape and details of the blouse.

What are the major trends for Spring/Summer 2021?
I feel like for SS21 most of the designers are looking back to the minimal aesthetic, as per the 1990s ‘less is more’ style embraced by Martin Margiela, Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and so on. The silhouette is very simple – trousers are straight and wide in floor-sweeping length, and layered underneath dresses and skirts. I think the pandemic has also changed the way people dress themselves. People tend to go for more of an athleisure look since we have no reason to dress up like before anymore. We can wear tracksuits, trainers and flip flops every day.

When we talk about trends, it can’t be limited to what designers are creating anymore. It could involve a really broad spectrum from the way they are presenting the collection, to the way they are pushing the garments into the market. Just like all the phygital shows here brought by FASHIONALLY. The world is changing fast and we just need to learn, follow and adapt to it. Even mega brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent are not following the traditional schedule in presenting their collection now, and everyone just needs to look for their own way out.

What does supporting local fashion designers mean to you?
It’s very important to support our local fashion designers since they are the future, and they could end up writing a revolutionary tomorrow for our industry. Hong Kong is a very special place that enables people of different cultural backgrounds to come together. It’s about the influx of culture.

Independent designers don’t have to follow the rules like big companies. They have creative freedom, which often enables them to think more outside of the box, resulting in more interesting designs you couldn’t find anywhere else. While people are always trying to look for individuality, an ability to express themselves and uniqueness has always been the thing we are going after in fashion.

Linen Blouse: Tak L. SS21 Collection

KEYWORDS

FASHIONALLY / FASHIONALLYCollection#15 / HongKongyoungfashiondesigner / SpringSummer / SpringSummer2021 / SS21 / SustainableFashion / TakL.