“Baai-San”, Chet Lo plays with the illusion of perspectives
It's no secret that Chet Lo loves to play with the idea of perspective. In his first debut NEWgen solo show, he harks back to his childhood and the temples he visited there. He was inspired by Dutch graphic designer Karel Martens, who used an illusion of perspective that plays with the mind—up close, it looks like stripes but from a distance, flowers are revealed.
For this show, Chet transformed the spaces into those of his youth by filling clear vases with colored powder and encasing them in incense for a modern twist on how people pay respects to gods in temples. Chet’s collection pushes the limits of what’s been done before and are a result of fusing a classic style category with radical enginerring. As I arrived at the London’s Old Selfridges Hotel, I was greeted by an air of calm. The venue was dimly lit and filled with Godly music, which echoed throughout the space.
Then, a single light flashed on the runway, the serenity ascended. As the lights flipped, so did the soundtrack, upbeat techno…And the show began!!
Chet says; I grew up Buddist and we used to go to the temple every week. A tale of transformation and resilience, Lo's collection draws inspiration from the Buddhist tale of arrows. In the story, the Buddha is shot by an army of soldiers with thousands of arrows. Instead of hitting him, the arrows turn into flowers as they fall to the ground.
In Lo's collection, this idea is translated into a series of clingy knit looks with curved cutouts intended to create a slashed effect inspired by the marks left by whizzing arrows.
It was clear that he had grown as a designer, and his offerings were more robust than ever before. This is no small feat for a young designer, and it bodes well for the future of his brand. We can only imagine what will come next!
Model after model came confidently down the runway including Lindsey Wixson and Maxim Magnus with long colourful hair or delicately placed floral tributes. The models' hair at this year's show was more than just a part of their look—it was an integral part of the overall design.
Anna Cofone and her team using Oribe created unique looks for each model that played into the theme of "modern fantasy" and complimented the outfits they were wearing. The looks at the Chet Lo were so tonally rich, we couldn't help but notice how much texture was added from the face, to the hair and makeup, to even the nails, the team used strong tones to create interest in every detail of their designs.
The makeup team, led by Terry Barber, used textural elements on the body as well, giving interest to the looks in ways we've never seen before. And then there were those show stopping ombred nails by Megan Thomas! Divine…