SANKUANZ presented their Fall/Winter 2021 collection on the official Paris Fashion Week Calendar from a distance. The show was held under a mock 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel tower in Tiandu City, Hangzhou. The absurd building covered in hasty darkness stands as the symbol of pre-pandemic civilization, as well as a joke with dark humor.
The collection continues the cold and sharp style from previous seasons. The metal spikes, buckled leather straps as well as the cilices meticulously hidden around the waist, may all seem to be terribly aggressive. But in fact, the aggressions are directed at the wearer himself, symbolizing self-punishment. If this world-wide pandemic is nature’s punishment for the human race, then self-punishment is to offset sorrow with sorrow. Attack and defense form together a dynamic balance.
We last spoke to designer Shangguan Zhe in the spring, and we caught up with him to look at the present and future in this new world we are getting to know and adjust to.
We haven’t quite reached the post-pandemic era, but there will be a day when it arrives. This is the subject you address this season. First of all, how are you coping anticipating the future?
I hope that all humans in the future will live in peace.
You recreated a dystopian Paris. Do you miss not showing in Paris this season?
I regret that we are not able to share our new collection in a show as usual. The video release format allows for a richer display of creativity, but it also has less of a sense of live energy. In this video release, we tried to convey as much energy as possible through the screen.
Do you feel that this world-wide pandemic is nature’s punishment for the human race? How should we respond?
To me, this epidemic is more of a disaster than a punishment. Whenever a big disaster comes, all we can do is to believe in love and wait for it to end.
What role does pop culture play in your work? Do you feel that pop culture will be relevant pop-pandemic or just a relic of the past?
If different eras are a piece of music, pop culture is like a certain catchy melody or a particular tone in this piece. It allows everyone to enter this era in the easiest way and understand some of its characteristics. The destiny of human beings under the times is more like the rhythm or the structure in this piece of music. It takes us into a deeper side. It is the same for my collection, I will extract pop culture and some trendy elements into the series, it is a most superficial clue that leads the audience step by step into the collection until the depth.
Please tell us about your denim this season.
For this collection, I tried to burn some color loss on the denim with a flame gun. In the process of testing, some of the fires burned too big, and didn’t have time to put them out, causing the clothes to be burned, but I still put them in the show.
What is the inspiration for you behind the Othala symbol this season?
I see SANKUANZ OTHALA as a symbol of a virtual religion, implanted in the mood and expression of that religion. It is also a reflection of reality.
And finally, what collaborations make up this collection?
For this collection, we collaborated with Chinese artist Zhou Yilun, who created fabric prints for SANKUANZ and re-created some of the clothes. Chengdu-based rock band “STOLEN” composed the music for the collection. The collection also includes collaborative items with GENTLE MONSTER and G-SHOCK.
Take a look at the collection below:
