For his second outing on the Paris couture calendar, Robert Wun picked up more or less where he left off, expanding on ideas like last season’s blood-spattered gowns with new propositions culled primarily from his favorite films. It was also an exercise in gratitude, he said, as this year marks the 10th anniversary of his brand.
“It’s this very strong reflection of how far I’ve come and also I’m grateful that I never gave up,” he said backstage before his show. He also noted that now he is more comfortable with things he believes in, whether there is an obvious link to fashion or not.
His opening number, a long black evening gown, was embroidered with crystals to striking effect, appearing streaked with rivulets of rain. A coat dress embroidered with mirrors gave a nod to the original Matrix. The poetry he sees in the horror genre returned in a blood-spattered wedding gown, an idea that found a new iteration in an embellished gown that seemed to be seeping different colors, as if it had been embroidered in Gobstopper candies and left outside in a downpour.
Wun also demonstrated a mastery of draping both with fabric—on a one-shouldered number in rosy beige silk or an electric blue gown piled with dramatic ruffles—and with beading, as on a showstopper of a number with long black sleeves, a transparent skirt, and tiers of green beading in front and back. Throughout, he gave his sense of humor free rein, whether on comparatively tame beaded headpiece and out-to-there cat-eye glasses, or surrealistic finger glasses-as-head-ornaments. One dress with pointed shoulders, fluted bell sleeves, and corseted details came with headgear that made it look like a cross-pollination between Maleficent and a praying mantis.
The finale, too, was a clever play on the horror genre, with a human-shaped appendage seemingly unfastening the model’s blood red gown. Given the exuberance of dress at this couture week, it’s perfectly plausible that someone will show up in that one at some point. Just hope they don’t get a front row seat.