BEAUTY: Clothing--Sean Suen

Sean Suen has had his own brand since 2012 and started showing at Paris Fashion Week in 2016, but has not been on my radar until now. His Fall-Winter '23-'24 collection is kind of amazing...I can see great imagination and rigourous skill in the tailoring and cuts. Being of Chinese descent, it seems natural that his inspirations are based in Chinese culture and for this tightly presented collection, Suen looked to the Yi or Nuoso people who live in the rural mountainous regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. They have a distinctive ethnic dress of garments that overlap and close on the right side along with turbans adorned with a single feather. These details can clearly be seen in Suen's marvelopus minimalistic interpretation of this native costume. But the Yi color palette is quite colorful, so how to explain the mostly black and neutral choices? It turns out that the indigenous religion of the Yi is called Bimoism, named after the bimo, shamans who wear distinctive black robes and hats. Indeed, many of these pieces feel solemn and ecclesiastical. Yet the oversized pearls dotted around and adorning the soles of shoes is a nice addition of modern luxury.

Example of Yi clothing with turban and feather

https://www.seansuen.com/