A Fairy Tale Season for Jason Wu
Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 12:09 AM Though there's already plenty of Jason Wu discussion happening in the previous comments section, we thought the designer deserved his own post. Today he kicked off New York Fashion Week, presenting his Fall 2009 RTW collection. (Sadly, there was no appearance by Mrs. O, but it made for good wishful thinking. Maybe next year.) The New York Times has fantastic, full scale images of the collection here (thanks RJT!).
Update: Fashion Week Daily has posted a video of the show here. Early reviews are more than complimentary of the young designer's Fall collection, which tops off a month of high points for Jason Wu. After dressing First Lady Mrs. O for the Inaugural Ball, and more recently, for the cover of Vogue, could things get any better? Coverage will surely continue to roll in tomorrow, but early going, we've found commentary from WWD to offer the best insight and perspective:
"[Jason Wu's] aim was to offer a different take on fairy-tales, inspired not by his own recent story but by the drawings of Arthur Rackham, who famously illustrated Alice in Wonderland."
"A delightful aspect of his clothes is that though consummately wearable they are not at all bland, whether the interest comes via boldly embroidered shoulders on a sexy sheath or in a cascade of frothy chiffon ruffles over a metallic skirt. Ditto the high evening looks."
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan of Heard on the Runway spoke to the designer today, who elaborated on his inspiration for the collection:
“'I wanted to remove everybody from their element for just that 10 minutes,' said Mr. Wu, who noted that he wanted the collection to convey optimism. 'Fashion is about emotions. I want people to be happy and optimistic.'"
"When asked backstage after the show whether he was thinking of Mrs. Obama when designing this collection, Mr. Wu smiled. 'You know,' he said, 'she is the ultimate muse.'”
Our humble assessment: We love Look 3, Look 25, and 27. It's not a stretch to imagine Mrs. O wearing any one of these dresses. We thought the use of the black embroidered rosettes to construct shoulders (Look 3), and then later repurposed and appliqued on full skirts to create pattern (Look 25 and 27), was one of the most inventive aspects of the collection. The "froth" as it's been billed in Looks 33 and 35 won us over at first sight. It was in these looks that we most realized Jason Wu's "fairytale" vision for the collection. There was a starry twinkle to the dotted navy tulle gown, the look that closed the show, that would well suit our First Lady. Given Mrs. O's growing penchant for the young designer, who knows, we may indeed see any number of these dresses again in the following months. We'd love to hear what your favorite picks were.
Reader Comments (13)
I see Michelle in #'s 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8...I'm loving his collection and that's not because Michelle is his muse...his clothes are real...they don't look like they belong in a museum.
'the ultimate muse'- wow, what a compliment. A muse sets the tone and inspires, and that is what Mrs. O does like no other American woman at this point in history.
Love the collection!
Lovely collection! He certainly has an amazing muse! Im actually not a fan of the 3rd look, its pattern looks too much like scales and the thick straps wouldnt do justice to Mrs. O's fabulous shoulders. But otherwise I think the collection is gorgeous. I can totally picture Mrs O wearing the 1st piece (the yellow dress) to a luncheon or daytime function. The yellow would look gorgeous against her creamy skin and the frame would accent her figure perfectly. The 7th piece is another outfit I can totally picture Mrs. O strutting her stuff in during the day while 4 and 6 would be stunning for a nighttime function. Like Mojo said, I love that this collection is truly wearable. I would walk off the runway in any of those dresses in a heart beat! Im totally drooling over 6 and 2!
Oh wait I should amend my post! When I was referencing the numbers they were in regards to the slideshow embedded in the post not the link. Now I see why you say look 3 is totally Mrs O! That one is AMAZING and would suit her perfectly.
I dont know how exactly to describe it, I guess burnt yellow w/ the blk pattern at the bottom, I would give my baby toe for that dress, Mrs O would look fab w/ that against her skin tone. Very impressed w/ Mr Wu
My favorite of all was look 12: http://media.wwd.com/images/processed/Collections/2009/fall/jason-wu/portrait/00-main/13.jpg
I can already see Mrs. O wearing it.
That was some very attractive clothing. Unlike some shows, I could actually picture myself in more than a few of the looks he presented. I don't remember the name, but I really loved the look that featured a cherry red sweater with the black/gray print skirt -- simple, but classy and attractive. Now I have to see if I can try to replicate that with something less pricey!
Jason Wu rocks !! Wonder if Mrs. O is an inspiration to his designs? You know...fashion that the average body type can wear. I tell ya, Christina hit the nail on the head. Jason's designs are simple but classic and can be duplicated for less the cost. There are some designs that I would love wear at a size 8. I'm sooo excited!!
Ciasos
I looked at the Wu collection on the NYT site last night - their coverage of the shows is fantastic and I encourage everyone to check it out.
The feature slide shows w/ oversized photos AND you can click on each individual photo to make a blow up over which you can scan your cursor to enlarge and pan up and down each look in order to scope out the details of the ensemble- it is a fantastic tool.
The Wu show was sophisticated and young. The prints were charming.
I detected some YSL influences. I thought the gowns were sensational.
I could see Mrs O donning many of the day looks for official engagements.
Touche' Mr Wu. Now lets keep our eyes peeled for the NR show later in the week.
I know some criticize the relationship b/w FL and Ikram but designers like Jason Wu would not be getting this kind of attention without Ikram's relationship with the FL and all the attention anything the FL wears
i love how many brown-skinned models there were... i wonder if part of that was m. obama's influence?
technical request??? the slide show is great, but the automatic running of it, not so much... I'm having to turn it off/stop it every time I come to the site, because it eats too much of my bandwidth (maybe, it's a possibility). Having the slide show come up static, so you have to click through it manually, would be better for many people, I expect. Thanks.
Hi chimene. The slideshow was embedded from another site, so unfortunately I can't adjust how it plays. But, I've added a video of the show from YouTube instead. Hope that helps.