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RENAISSANCE 2.0：
COLLISION WITH BEAUTIFUL PRECISION FOR SS2020, MÄRCHEN DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM THE RENAISSANCE AGE AND CONTINUES THE BRAND'S EXPLORATION FOR DREAMY STORYTELLING AND SPACIOUS SILHOUETTES. WITH AN URGENCY TO SOLVE A MOST BURNING QUESTION "HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY THE BEAUTY AND MAKE ROMANTIC INTERPRETATIONS BASED ON OUR FLUID GENDER REALITY?", MÄRCHEN OFFERS RHAPSODIC SILHOUETTES, SHOWING HER ABILITY TO TACKLE COLLISION WITH BEAUTIFUL PRECISION. RENAISSANCE'S PURSUIT OF BEAUTY WHILST JUGGLING BEAUTIFUL CONTRADICTIONS INSPIRED THIS SEASON'S DESIGN: SANDRO BOTTICELLI'S OPULENT FEMALE CHARACTERS ALWAYS STAND IN JIGGLY POSES YET APPEAR TO BE AT EASE, GODLY CREATURES SUCH AS VENUS SHOWCASED THE UTMOST HUMAN EMOTIONS, THE WARRIORS IN GIORGIO VASARI'S WORK SETS THE BAR FOR MASCULINITY, YET THEIR AIRY BATTLE SUITS PROPOSED A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO TRADITIONAL MANLINESS. UNDER MÄRCHEN'S ZEALOUS GAZE, SUCH RENAISSANCE NUANCES, THE DICHOTOMY BETWEEN FEMALE AND MALE, MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY, ARE THEN BEING RELENTLESSLY DISASSEMBLED, REASSEMBLED, REVITALIZED, MADE ANEW.
THIS IS RENAISSANCE 2.0.
THIS SEASON, MÄRCHEN PROMISES A NEW KIND OF VIBRANCY WITH HER SOFT SCULPTURE-LIKE AIRY SHAPES AND PROPORTIONS. THE DESIGNER AIMS TO MAKE STILL THE MOVEMENT OF AIRY FABRICS, WITH ARMOR-LIKE HARNESSES STYLED ON TOP, TO CREATE DEPTH AND REINFORCE THE CONTRASTING QUALITIES OF LIGHT AND WEIGHT. QUICKLY, ROMANTICIZED FEMININITY UNDOES THE GENDER BINARY.
WEARING MESH VESTS AND BANDAGE-LIKE ARMOR, THE NEW MÄRCHEN GIRL ALSO CALLS TO MIND VIRGINIA WOOLF'S ANDROGYNOUS CREATION ORLANDO, AFTER "HE" BECOMES "SHE," ORLANDO'S IDENTITY REMAINS, SO DOES HER ANDROGYNOUS APPEAL.
TEXTURE PLAYS AN INTEGRAL PART IN THE BRAND’S DESIGN. METICULOUSLY CHOSEN PLASTIC GREEN FLOWERS ARE INTRICATELY PLACED ON ORGANZA SHIRTS TO PUSH FORWARD THE DESIGNER’S MISSION TO CAPTURE TRANSIENT BEAUTY. RUCHING AND SMOCKING TECHNIQUES ARE DEVELOPED TO EMPHASIZE FLUID SILHOUETTES; THE DESIGNER THREADS A PIECE OF SQUARE FABRIC UNEVENLY TO CREATE MORE TENSION AND IDIOSYNCRASY TO HER SPACIOUS DESIGN.
THE COLLECTION IS MADE UP OF A SALAD OF PARROT GREEN, LAVENDER GRAY, WATERMELON RED, AND A SWATH OF THE BRAND'S SIGNATURE COLOR, CINNAMON BUFF, SETTING THE TONE FOR A COLLECTION FULL OF MYSTERIOUS SURPRISES, JUST AS ENIGMATIC AS OUR FAVORITE PROTAGONIST ORLANDO, AS SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY, DESPITE THE 400 YEARS' TIME PASSED.
SO I LIVED FOR HALF A CENTURY UNTIL WORDLESSLY WE MET”
- JOHN BERGER
ULTIMATELY, IN EFFORT TO FIND CONSISTENCY AMIDST CHAOS, MÄRCHEN AIMS TO GO BACK TO THE ROOT OF THINGS, KICKSTART HER SS2020 JOURNEY FROM THE HEART OF RENAISSANCE CREATIVITY, RECLAIM THE VIRTUES OF HUMANISTIC PURSUITS. EVEN THOUGH THE APPROACH COULD BE DUBBED AS HAVING TRENDY "VINTAGE" APPEAL, HER REAL PURPOSE IS TO PURSUE REAL FEELINGS WITH GUSTO, DELVE DEEP INTO THE NUANCES OF OUR SO-CALLED FLUID DIGITAL WORLD WHERE THE VIRTUAL CONSTANTLY BLENDS INTO THE REAL.
"RENAISSANCE ARTISTS EMBRACED THE IDEA MORE RADICALLY THAN WE EVER DID; THEY HAVE MASTERED THE ART OF BLENDING AND BENDING GENDER APPEALS. I HOPE WE CAN REVIVE THE OPENNESS OF THE RENAISSANCE TIMES— RUFFLES ARE NOT STRICTLY FEMALE," SAID MÄRCHEN DESIGNER CIHANG CHEN.
