Intentionally Inspirational
Jenn Lee has been mesmerizing us with her work since the Taiwanese designer showed off-schedule with her AW20 London Fashion Week debut. Since then, she has continued to enthral with a design DNA that's imbued with a cross-continental and cross-cultural commonality. Hers is a vision that marries traditional Chinese influences with alternative Western cultural touchstones. One which draws from punk, psychedelia and club culture to produce avant-garde pieces that are created with life-affirming intentionality, that intention to promote positivity and inclusivity. One which seeks to explore the issues affecting contemporary women, with particular attention to those still bound by societal traditions and stereotypes.
Images: Leigh Maynard
For SS24, Jenn Lee looked to the changes in her own life, taking inspiration from her journey into motherhood and the boundless joy exuded by her young son; this manifested itself through integrating motifs and references to childhood, youth and the beauty of innocence within her designs. It was enhanced by channelling her own formative influences through the show's setting and staging.
Held in the historic Tab Centre, a community hub in the heart of Shoreditch for nearly two hundred years, the designer chose to decorate the show space in the style of a 90s art studio, drawing on that era's grunge subculture and the iconic SS90 Maison Margiela show which heralded the impending decade with a celebration of childhood. This confluence of influences melded seamlessly to instil both collection and show with an essence of childhood innocence and the boundless possibilities that lie ahead for the young.
Gifting us thirty-nine looks, predominately in the brand's signature red and black palette, it was an assemblage of deliciously deconstructed pieces with asymmetric dresses and skirts with frayed hemlines to the fore while tartan also made an appearance. Punk and piratical, it was undeniably Jenn Lee, and while giving us what we know and love, it also demonstrated a designer whose artistry and command of fabric manipulation continues to evolve.
As always, the construction and production of the pieces were underpinned by ethical intentionality, which manifested itself in the use of natural dyeing techniques and organic tones, artfully printing textiles with rust - the aim being to infuse each piece with a unique character and let the materials take the lead, moving away from machine printing. It's an environmentally aware ethos which has been defined since the brand's inception by a commitment to upcycling, recycling and transparent, ethical supply chains.
That intentionality was further evinced through this season's collaboration with MAKALOT, one of the world's premier textile and garment factories, which provided multiple screens in the show space displaying the digital manufacturing process. As part of that blueprint for doing things differently, the designer also looked to explore the societal need for categorization, the desire to put everyone and everything into a pre-determined box. Always rewriting the narrative through digital destabilization, the show cum presentation, in itself a refreshing change from the fashion norms, featured both real life and avatar models, the latter appearing on laptop screens in a video game created in conjunction with tech software company Acer.
Edgily experimental and staunchly sustainable, Jenn Lee is a designer creating beautiful pieces for those who want to wear clothes that are fun and sexy but which are also imbued with an ethical intentionality, one which places human rights and environmental advocacy at the brand's very core. Channelling the changes in her own life to create this latest collection, the designer also continues to embrace those technological advances which see fashion and technology becoming increasingly intertwined. As she embraces these innovations, we'd recommend you also embrace the artistry and vision of Jenn Lee.
Many thanks to Roxanne, Anna , Alisha and all the team at Dyelog PR for inviting us to the show and for all their help.
You can connect with the brand here https://www.jennleeshop.com/ and here https://www.instagram.com/jennlee_official/?hl=en
