Article By Ka Yee Chan
Photo credit Chenxi Li
While waiting for Zang Toi’s F/W ’14 to start, the song “The Plum Blossom” played and filled the space in the Salon at Lincoln Center. “The Plum Blossom” is written by famous song writer/director, Liu Chia-chang. The song is dedicated to Taiwan, as plum blossom is Taiwan’s national flower.
Zang Toi’s F/W ’14 featured Shanghai 1930’s “Paris Of The Orient”. The collection presented daily glamour of people walking down Shanghai’s streets, from daytime wool-suits to evening gowns accessorized with luxurious fur. The color story ranges from light gray twill, and black, to wine and pops of green.
Zang’s collection is sexy, and romantic, but is at the same time conservative. Many of the looks have high necklines and have an essence of the Chinese traditional dress: qipao. The stylish and often tight fitting qipao is created in Shanghai. It is a mark of fashion since the 1920s and continues till today.
It was an honor to interview Zang before the show. Let’s hear Zang’s interpretation of his collection:
Q: “Only an hour left until your show, how are you feeling right now?”
Z: “I feel great. I feel good. I can’t wait for the show to get started.”
Q: “Do you want to talk a bit about your collection?”
Z: “For Fall 2014, I am going back to my Chinese roots. The collection is inspired by Shanghai 1930’s. So, it is very decorative, very glamorous…and this collection is especially important to me. I dedicated this collection to my father…my father who passed away two and a half months ago. I want this collection to be really, really beautiful to make my dad proud.”
Q: “As you are designing this collection, do you have a muse in mind?”
Z: “No, not a muse. Not necessarily a muse. I am one of the very few designers that would inspire by a muse. But I am inspired by my traveling, by a movie, or by a period…personal experiences and emotions.”
Q: “Any future projects, you want to share with us?”
Z: “Well, I am already starting to think about Spring 2015, that’s what I am working on. And we have a project going on with Rene Furterer. We are thinking about collaborating on a limited edition of Zang Toi with Rene Furterer products.”
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