Last week, Andrew Kwon presented Séraphine, his Spring/Summer 2027 couture eveningwear collection, at St. Bartholomew’s Church during New York Fashion Week.
Across 16 looks, Kwon translated an Arcadian landscape into fluid gowns, sculpted corsetry, and intricate embellishment. The presentation also marked a more focused direction for the designer, who is stepping away from ready-to-wear as interest in his couture work grows.
The Romanesque interior and Byzantine details of St. Bart’s gave the runway presentation an appropriately grand setting. Models in champagne, blush, and celadon fabrics moved through the church to an orchestral, siren-like soundtrack, establishing a lighter opening before the palette began to darken.
Séraphine draws inspiration from Nicolino Calyo’s Arcadian Landscape. Kwon translated the painting’s changing light and greenery through gradients, floral details, and silhouettes that alternated between close-fitting and expansive. Sweeping trains, translucent layers, and embroidered flowers retained the romance associated with his label, while structured corsetry gave the gowns definition.
Photo Courtesy: Andrew Kwon
This season, however, Kwon pushed those signatures beyond the pastels and bridal whites often associated with his work.
“I wanted to explore color in a much broader way, moving from the lightest, most ethereal tones into something much darker,” Kwon told The Knockturnal. On the runway, watery blues transitioned to violet and darker hues. Black lace, fitted silhouettes, and body-skimming embellishment introduced a more sensual side of Kwon’s eveningwear without abandoning its delicacy.
The collection’s name refers to a celestial and distinctly feminine quality, placing the clothes between the natural and imagined. “There is something emotional and almost otherworldly about this collection,” Kwon said. “I wanted to push further into fantasy.”
Photo Courtesy: Andrew Kwon
“With this collection, we really pushed the techniques that have become central to the world of ANDREW KWON—draping, embroidery, and intricate fabrication—continuing to move deeper into couture,” he said.
Kwon said the label has received an increasing number of inquiries from couture clients around the world, making his move away from ready-to-wear feel natural. The broader palette also responds to the different occasions for which those clients are dressing. “The woman coming to ANDREW KWON has a very global lifestyle,” he explained. “She isn’t rooted in just one city, but travels around the world for the different moments and occasions in her life.”
Rather than designing around one destination or event, Séraphine offered several interpretations of formal dressing. The lighter gowns could move easily into weddings and daytime celebrations, while the violet, midnight, and black pieces were suited to evening occasions.
Kwon is now preparing his next couture bridal collection while continuing to expand the house’s private client business. Séraphine may have begun with an imagined landscape, but it ultimately showed a designer becoming more specific about the brand he wants to build.
