“That’s just Haizhen Wang, he’s been around forever and it’s always good.” So said a colleague last night a few hours after Wang presented his spring 2024 collection. It wasn’t an overstatement—the Chinese designer has been doing this for over a decade, having founded his label in 2011 after graduating with an MA from Central Saint Martins and working at the likes of All Saints and Max Mara. He’s something of a stalwart here in Shanghai, though his presentation last night marked his return to the fold after a few seasons away.
Having stopped showing runway collections during the Shanghai lockdown of 2022, Wang returned to the main stage of Shanghai Fashion Week yesterday to thunderous applause. He titled the collection “See You Again,” but, when prompted backstage, rather than wax poetic about his return, he talked fashion: “I’ve been thinking a lot about the ’80s,” he said. “You see it on the shoulder line, the waists, and the button placement on the tailoring,” he said. “The flash of the end of the ’80s and early ’90s fashion, when I studied in the UK, had the most impact on my work at the time.”
That much was clear, but this was not an ’80s redux. Instead Wang modernized the decade’s most recognizable cuts in a lineup grounded by black and white (“I’m just not really good with color,” he said with a chuckle). The power shoulder was balanced by a contemporary nipped waist and structured hourglass silhouette on jackets, and made lighter on cocktail dresses by a concave sleeve construction. Appreciably more engrossing was his draping, which he showcased on beautifully shirred LBDs, going-out tops, a playful silky bustle worn under a corset, and a fantastic Galliano-esque (with a side of Westwood’s mini-crini) crumpled cloud-like skirt. The closing frocks were particular knockouts: two versions of a diagonally gathered silk structured bodice cut into a pair of long-sleeve dresses, one white and one black. They were prim lady and cool It-girl in equal doses.
The pandemic caused substantial economic and social disruptions across Shanghai last year, and everywhere this season designers, show producers, and PRs have touched on its impact, emphasizing how hard it has been for the fashion community to put itself back together. Wang is one of the designers who seems to epitomize the industry’s resilience.