The Kim Shui girl has a secret to keep for AW22.
This season, Kim Shui wanted to create a collection that was engaged with questions of interiority and selfhood. If that sounds like it would lead to quiet, understated clothes, the collection’s vibrant neon colors and finely detailed lingerie proved just the opposite. The decision to explore introversion through such extroverted clothing stems partially from Shui’s desire to “make sexy a choice, mocking fetishization and co-opted Western fantasies.” The aim of the collection was to take clothing and symbols that have historically been employed in the service of a white male gaze and reinterpret them as alternately satirical and sincere modes of self expression. The show began with hot pink headbands and neon teal bucket hats.
Heavy blue eyeshadow and dresses with plush and feathered fringes contributed to a high femme aesthetic that was more about the personal, intimate enjoyment of ‘girlish’ clothes rather than an appeal to male attention. Later, hand-crocheted dragon designs on lingerie and sheer tops emphasized the skill, labor, and artistry of undergarment design. Exploring femininity through colorful tweed and faux-leather outer garments as well as more revealing intimates painted a picture of a multidimensional womanhood that reveals itself slowly over time, in gradual layers. As the show notes explain, the Kim Shui girl is a “femme [with] a secret to keep.”
