BEAUTY: Clothing--Sean Suen

I really like what is going on at the waists of these looks from Sean Suen's Spring Summer '27 collection at Paris Fashion Week. Reminiscent of cummerbunds, these elements look to be in knit and may or may not rise up from the waistband inside trousers which are turned down into wingtips. And if not a knit cummerbund, then a fantastic corset belt.

https://www.seansuen.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing --Sean Suen

Sean Suen mixes Western and Eastern clothing in a way that feels completely fresh. His inspiration for his SS '25 collection shown at Paris Fashion Week was Mei Lanfang (1894 - 1961), the male opera artist best known as the "Queen of Peking Opera" for his exclusive portrayal of female lead roles. It is easy to see the Asian silhouette but how Suen mixed it with Western formalwear and suiting is remarkable. And the mix of masculine and feminine arrives absolutely on time.

https://www.seansuen.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Sean Suen

I have written about Sean Suen only once before, here. He has had his own brand since 2012 and started showing at Paris Fashion Week in 2016, but had not been on my radar until last year. And his current Fall-Winter '24-'25 collection at Paris Fashion Week is just as ambitious and interesting. Being of Chinese descent, it is natural that Suen's inspirations are based in Chinese culture. Previously, he looked to the Yi or Nuoso people who live in the rural mountainous regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi for inspiration (do look at the collection linked above). And his current collection plays with his childhood memories of growing up in China in the 90s when it was truly opening up to the world. Suen recalls this as a period when western clothing was supremely desirable. "At the time, when people looked for something new, they wanted a suit because what they had was a Mao jacket," he said.

Like many other designers this season (and in recent memory), he played with the scale and proportion of the suit, taking it out of the hands of the rigid business world: deconstruction instead of restriction. His collection could have been just another "oh-look-he-made-the-pants-too-long" moment (like some other designers). But upon inspection, one can see his background and skill in rigorous tailoring at play. The way he chooses to alter a section of a suit and how he chooses to do so shows mastery. It is as though he first reduced the three dimensional suit to two dimensions and adjusted within that framework. I like the little additions to the Western suit story he peppered in like suspenders and gold watch chains.

But from there, he diverged into some amazing thigh-high boots and fur stoles/muffs in a nod to genderless dressing (to balance out the suits?). I can't find any info about whether these latter items are vegan furs. I hope they are. Many high-profile houses have gone fur-free in recent years including Armani. No reason why a designer would continue to use real fur when the synthetic substitutes are indistinguishable.

https://www.seansuen.com/

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/