“What I really like about fashion is it’s about the reflection of what’s happening in our society, and it’s a time that I think we need to,” Jason Wu said backstage of his pretty spring show while putting the finishing touches on an upholstery-inspired gown. Putting on one show a year has given the designer the freedom to imbue his clothes with more meaning, which has resulted in designs seen through the lens of deconstructed, raw beauty and to special artists partnerships.
This season Wu partnered with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, which is marking its 100th birthday, to explore the dialogue between art and fashion through collage. Granted access to the archive, Wu focused on 10 of the artist’s works from his ‘70s Hoarfrost series and Airport Suite editions that feature layered translucent textiles, unexpected materials like cardboard and solvent-transferred images. They were reflected not only through Wu’s clothes, but were also present, on loan from the foundation, within his industrial show space.
“It marks a time that we’re in right now. I think now we need beauty more than ever, but yet, it’s also a reflection of me. I’m a collage — I’ve lived everywhere, and New York is the biggest collage place ever,” he mused.
He translated the artist’s methodology by collaging and patchworking his Purina dog chow bags and retro lingerie works with trompe-l’oeil effect into ample airy, sheer organza garments. Wu continued to fill the collection with artisanal texture, combining stripes of printed washed satin into fringes; peeling back the layers of a cardboard-inspired brown corset dress, and tacking on draped sheer and printed panels to add new dimension to his undone evening and sportswear works. A beautiful balance of art and fashion.
“For the first 10 years of my career, I was trying to be very perfect because I thought that’s what people wanted to see. I’m taking my DNA, but doing it as I would do it now, with a little more guts,” Wu said.