Robert Wun staged his collection at the Lido, where audiences typically expect feathered showgirls and champagne-soaked spectacles. The Hong Kong-born designer had different requirements. He needed space for video screens broadcasting thunderstorms, complete with lightning strikes, because nothing embodies creative ambition quite like weather patterns projected at cabaret scale.
| 📌 Key Facts |
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| 🏛️ Couture House: Robert Wun 🐍 Creative Director: Robert Wun 🏛️ Location: Lido de Paris 🌩️ Theme: Creative persistence under economic pressure 👗 Key Piece: 40-kg fully beaded circular gown 🛡️ Visual Codes: Armor, weapons, storms, crystal masks 💎 Critical Question: How does fashion assign value to artistic labor? 🎭 Structure: Three acts — inspiration, confrontation, endurance |
The designer titled his collection “Valor: The Desire to Create and the Courage to Carry On.” Backstage, he explained that his affection for thunderstorms stems from growing up with Hong Kong typhoons. He likes watching them from inside. Apparently, this counts as design inspiration.
However, beneath the meteorological theatrics, Wun created something more calculated: a three-part exploration of the collision between creative aspiration and commercial reality. The first section, called “Library,” presented dreams in their purest form. Strict black-and-white silhouettes emerged, inspired by Wun’s fashion school sketchbooks from London College of Fashion in 2012. At that time, his imagination operated without the burden of business concerns.
The result felt unusually restrained for a designer known for theatrical excess. Sculpted bodices fit tightly to the body. Enormous, rounded bolero shoulders created architectural volume. Long, flared skirts provided structural counterbalance. Then came the standout piece: a circular gown entirely encrusted with micro glass beads. The 40-kilogram garment was approximately the size of a small adult human. The model wore it with remarkable composure, treating the wearable barbell as a routine professional obligation.
The second act, “Luxury: Confrontation of Reality,” addressed the uncomfortable economics of fashion. Wun examined how the industry assigns value to objects, particularly when those objects cost more than modest real estate. Models appeared wearing molded bodices that resembled display stands for high jewelry, the kind typically guarded by security systems and intimidating sales personnel. Diamond necklaces gleamed beneath lighting designed for maximum effect. Face masks fully encrusted in crystals erased any remaining trace of individual identity.
Sharp-breasted corsets in vibrant colors sat atop draped skirts with trailing trains. The presentation felt deliberate rather than decorative. Wun asked viewers to consider who determines worth and why creative output is measured against financial metrics unrelated to the actual labor involved.
The third act, “Valour,” shifted the focus toward the creator behind the work. Wun addressed the internal struggles designers face when trying to maintain their artistic vision in a system that demands commercial viability. Throughout this section, he used weapons, treating swords and armor less like violence and more like metaphors for psychological endurance.
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One model appeared in gleaming silver armor, carrying a sword with practiced ease. Another model wore a bodysuit printed with black-and-white anatomical sketches of a muscular human body. Against the backdrop of projected lightning, the final look appeared: a veiled figure wearing an enormous, sequined gown in storm shades. The figure crossed the runway slowly and then disappeared into the darkness.
Wun explained that his collection traced three emotional stages: finding inspiration, confronting desire, and summoning the courage to continue. He argued that couture survives precisely because it reflects who we wish to become rather than who we currently are. The clothes function as aspirational armor against internal and external doubt.
Whether audiences need another designer explaining creative struggle through expensive metaphors is debatable. However, Wun demonstrated technical skill alongside his philosophical framework. The 40-kilogram beaded gown alone required substantial atelier expertise. The collection proved that he can create spectacles while maintaining structural coherence, even when thunderstorms rage across the video screens behind him.
