This weekend, Asia Fashion Collection revealed their 6th annual runway show during NYFW FW19 at Spring Studios. Asia Fashion Collection (AFC) is an incubation project showcasing Asia’s rising up-and-coming designers; this season, the runway revealed seven brands from Japan, Thailand, South Korea, and Taiwan: FEY MINORIYANAGASE by Minori Yanagase, TITAT by Titat Kuantrakul, CAHIERS by Ayoung Kim, TSUNG YU CHAN by Joe Chan, HYUN JUNG by Hyun Kyeong Jung, kenichi. by Kenichi Ishida, and KANON by Kanon Hayata.
Showcasing menswear, designers Kenichi, Tsung Yu Chan, and Titat Quantrakul were not shy to incorporate gender blurring elements to their silhouettes. Kenichi’s use of knits, tweed, silver, and tribal embroidery gave a modern twist to his storytelling while the latter menswear designers aimed to reinterpret streetwear, with Tsung Yu Chan combining elements of traditional Taiwanese fabric techniques and political propaganda to elevate Asian streetwear and Titat adapting Mong traditional textiles to modern lifestyle-wear. In contrast, womenswear brands also took a departure from previous seasons and ultra-femininity with a new approach to strong self-identities from Minori Yagase’s graphic prints to Cahier’s Bohemian “Newtro.” The collections collectively pursued a lucid yet defined cultural aesthetic whilst taking nods from western trends.
