Shiatzy Chen Fall Winter 2023-2024 “Heart Strings” Paris Fashion Week. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Shiatzy Chen.
Shiatzy Chen is a Taiwanese luxury fashion house founded in 1978 by Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia and her husband Wang Yuan-Hong. The name means “The new look of China”, combining the aesthetics of Chinese clothing and handicraft with Western styles.
Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia for the new season created the story about her love and transformation of everlasting love into embroidery stitches. She tells the story from the ancient times when a woman hand-sewed a purse and gave it as a gift to the loved ones. She took the unique shape of the purse and transformed it into cutting patterns, creating some sort of modern origami for the new generation of women.
Puffy golden jackets, traditional Oriental paintings and embroideries found their place in the modern garments. Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia sewed love symbols of success and wealth into new patterns and new designs.
In her interview she said that during the 45 years of existence of her brand it is her goal that a new generation of women felt surrounded by love. Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia started to prepare her brand for the new demands to preserve the environment where we live, new steps to the future of sustainable and responsible production of luxury garments. Her ambition to develop goes even further, she plans to propose to her clients the new immersive Web3 experiences.
Press-Release
Since the global coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, SHIATZY CHEN will be returning to Paris this season with a fashion show, again infusing the poetic eastern inspirations with the influence of western culture at its origin, inviting the audience to follow the strings of the heart and weave the romantic web of beautiful oriental and western craftsmanship.
In 2023-2024 AW, with HEARTSTRINGS as the theme, we see Design Director Shiatzy Chen draw inspiration from the purse Chinese women in ancient times would hand-sew and gift to their beloved ones. The oriental-style smooth and round ruyi shape is interpreted into fashion, transforming everlasting love into embroidery stitches, depicting the completing and mirroring twins. The heart and the strings, playing the beautiful concerto of oriental art meshed with western art while displaying reflections in complementary comparison, transcend cultural barriers and fuse into one. Through the cotton tassels symbolizing love and affection, the fun ride of culture collisions is set to ride.
Silhouettes similar blossom on stage, each representing the stunning east and west fashion. Echoing the elegant oriental-style diagonal lapel cutting is the ostentatious western waistcoat, the graceful Mamian skirt swaying with each step taken; then comes the romantic western low-waist flared skirt, while the tang suit of a cultured scholar quietly and unaffectedly contrasts with the gallant and rebellious western jockey jacket. The eastern and western cultural perspectives stand in comparison yet connect ever so closely in the contemporary, fulfilled, and saturated with similarities and differences.
The silhouette designs in AW see the unique shape of the oriental-style purse transformed into cutting patterns, lapel collars, and pocket covers, the oriental-style dress made with the western-originated tweed and metal tassels, cloud pattern embroidery as the decorating hemline of the down jacket, or the faux traditional kesi jacquard fabric combined with western classic jacquard pattern, extending and contrasting one another, reflecting the mutual inclusion and influence of the clothing craftsmanship that derived the brand new fashion aesthetics.
In this collection, Shiatzy Chen takes our iconic embroidery craftsmanship even further with innovative hand-sewn embroidery techniques. Phoenix and peony, the oriental symbols of auspiciousness and affluence, are featured with the full-out embroidery of ruyi and cloud pattern for glorious magnificence and glamourous splendor. The original jacquard of this collection sees the white rabbit atop the phoenix, soaring over the mountains and ocean, riding into the brilliant and fascinating bright future.
Handbag designs feature the jade element women so adore with the brand new “jade bangle handle purse handbag”, with modern contours added to the traditional purse shape. The stylish simple handle design gives the handbag a more compact and sophisticated modern vibe, and the variety of purse handbags is released to embody the many different ways affection is shown by the new generation. Liberating the foot-binding shoes worn by the female in the old days, female shoes in this season feature flats that are comfortable, free, and easy, while the platform design adds an extra touch of grace to balance the youthful jaunty.