Asian Fashion Collection Fall 2014: Global Incubation Project

On paper, the Asian Fashion Collection intrigues for a couple of reasons.

First, it’s always interesting to see what students are up to. These are, after all, the designers of tomorrow and who doesn’t like the opportunity to spot potential genius in its early stages. Second, it’s no secret that Asia and Asian cultures have increasingly served as inspiration and reference points for today’s designers. In addition to fabrics, the influence also can be seen in details like shapes, tailoring and the growing popularity of fabric manipulation.

For the fall 2014 show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, six student designers were selected through recommendations made by the Korea Fashion Association, the Taiwan Textile Federation, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, as well as through the collection’s co-sponsor, the Vantan Design Institute in Japan.

The students’ work—each designer, except one, showed eight pieces—reflected a range of taste and skill levels. While some of the pieces veered more towards workroom experiments or were hampered by questionable fabric or tailoring choices, other designers found a successful way to balance the experimental with more commercially viable pieces.

Among the more successful collections were the colorful knitwear by Sei, by Vantan student Yumiko Sei; the street smart coats and jackets from R. Shemiste by Korean designer Won Ji Yeun; and the finely detailed separates by Vantan student Akiko Kishimoto.

—Karyn D. Collins