Laurence Li and Chico Wang’s second New York presentation was a maximalist examination of in-flight comfort. Inspired by whimsical dreams of air travel, the collection came to life in a series of sketches done on flights between Vancouver, the boys’ hometown, and New York City. For those who don’t know, Li creates illustrations depicting the duo’s daily lives, and Wang transforms them into fashion creations. What came to life this season was a wacky, flamboyant, larger-than-life display of pillow- and cushion-inspired wraps and coats.
These supersized re-creations of comfort had showgoers immediately grabbing their phones, eager to get the best angle or close-up of these bunched-up, Victorian-meets-Japanese puffers, or of the equally wacky wig-and-eye mask headwear. Some coats featured silkscreen prints of Li’s humorous, colorful illustrations, where he and Wang are the only humans in an otherworldly narrative. These looks showed us the duo can deliver presentation effect, yet kitsch as they were, they were not very retail-friendly. Taken apart, other pieces were quite fun and wearable. A silver velvet ruffle dress, lip-print bomber and pillow corset ensemble was a playful layering of approachable items. Elsewhere, a pink velvet slipdress was held together with pearl seams in a display of fabric manipulation handicraft.