Review of Jason Wu Collection Fall 2023 Fashion Show
Cinematic Blooms
By Obi Anyanwu
Florals are a common theme and trope used in womenswear. Flowers blooming, giving life and breathing life anew is a metaphor and symbol for maternal wisdom and femininity. There’s a reason it’s Mother Nature and Father Time and not the other way around. But though florals are so common, designers search for new ways to repackage the theme.
Wu told The Impression Backstage that much like every season, this collection, “is from the heart.”
Jason Wu presented his Fall/Winter 2023 collection at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, across from Central Park, where most of Manhattan’s different species of flowers live. But Wu didn’t look to Midtown’s yard; he looked to early 20th-century German artist Karl Blossfeldt’s botanical photography from 1929 to 1930, which can be found at the Museum of Modern Art.
Wu took to key elements of Blossfeldt’s work, like fragility and strength contrasted by moodiness. Then he applied these elements to menswear-inspired deconstructed tailoring and feminine details like chiffon and lace.
The designer explained after the show that Blossfeldt’s work gave him a “cinematic mood,” which he applied to each ensemble. In fact, the models walked in a circle to mimic the ascending spiral walkway of the museum. Each woman represented by the looks are characters from a rom-com, descending the stairs in her glamorous makeover.
“I’m really proud to be in such an iconic location, and it’s great being here after 14 years,” Wu said. “I’m a New York designer; I never left.”
Wu used fragility often to describe his collection, much like the flowers captured in Blossfeldt’s work, but the tailoring, outerwear, and oversized sweaters bring balance.
The designer explained after the show that Blossfeldt’s work gave him a cinematic mood
This season was a slightly new approach for the designer who said he wanted to push himself this season, but much like every season, this collection, “is from the heart,” he said.