Murder? For Spring? That’s groundbreaking. What’s better is that it seems like we are entering a revolutionary era when emerging designers are swallowing giant fashion houses with their wearable arts. Avant-garde fashion is back and better than ever!
Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week is extremely competitive in selecting designers to showcase their collection. In order to receive approval, the decision must be unanimous, implying a guaranteed jaw-dropping effect of the collection. According to Wun, poetry in horror is his inspiration for this bejeweled blood and broken glass collection. The creations titled “For Love” are a crossover between American Horror Story and Beetlejuice – Wun’s favorite – reveals a moody surrealist aesthetic. To increase the consistency of the theme, pieces are splashed with fake blood, paint, and talon manicures.
“The Bleeding Love” by Robert Wun, 2024
From the very first moment of the show, Wun confirms his signature raindrop crystals, wide-brimmed hat, and black coat. However, this time, his artistic codes evolve with a more personal and emotional depth to the collection. As a flame covers an asymmetrical gown, glass shards cover a dress and sharply-edged headpieces cover models’ faces, the show begins, leaving a shocking impression on the audience.
Let’s begin with Wun’s signature charcoal wool embellished with crystal raindrops, umbrella hats and beaked helmets, we can see the demonstration of his mastery in fabric to create the dramatic ruffles effects. We love to see how a designer is skilled in a certain aspect, he emphasizes it in his later collection, eventually developing his fashion house codes. This is undoubtedly particularly important for emerging designers like Wun. Last year, this stunning raincoat was hand beaded with over 30,000 swarovski crystals, which took over 600 hours of manual labor. His intent was to create glistening-like raindrops trickling down the coat and he immaculately delivered it.
“The Raincoat” by Robert Wun, 2023
Nonetheless, my favorite look not only for this collection but also for ALL Haute Couture collection that I have ever seen is “The Bleeding Love”. It was hand-beaded with 98,000 Swarovski crystals, 100,000 sequins and bugle beads, which ultimately takes over 1,000 hours to embroider. The veil alone takes 842 hours. According to Wun, this bridal gown splashed with fresh blood stains is him questioning the traditional concept of marriage and love. While love is beautiful, it is also brutal and painful.
Another astonishing look from this collection is “The Innocence”. This was inspired by a bridal photograph from Irving Penn in 1949, titled “Marguerites”, combined with his favorite quote from Hayao Miyazaki on the idea of good and evil.
“The Innocence” by Robert Wun, 2024
And lastly, “The Trinity Coat” is inspired by the iconic scene from The Matrix – Reloaded. The gown captures the moment of shattered window glasses with over 1,200 precisely cut glass shard pieces, hand sewed with over 5,000 glass beads on black silk satin. And the most iconic detail is how these glass shard rings and coat buttons are custom portrait-cut laboratory-grown white sapphires. Not only does Wun impress us with his mastery in fabrics and silhouettes but also technology in crafting his accessories.
“The Trinity Coat” by Robert Wun, 2024
The rest of his looks that are covered with paint splatter and ink blots remind me of the “Wine Stain” dress in his last collection.
“The Wine Stain Dress” by Robert Wun, 2023