Sunny Fong described his fall collection for VAWK as “Savile Row meets Himalayan mountain climber.” Savile Row is a street in central London known for its traditional men’s bespoke tailoring. If strong tailoring was his intention, Fong did the tailors of the stylish enclave proud. In his own reinterpretation of Savile Row, Fong took smart, tailored pieces and punctuated them with a feminine sensibility.
Fong married an assortment of textures and fabrics such as Mongolian lambskin, cashmere and both chunky and feathery knits.
The opening look — a cream-coloured cable dress embroidered with a cable knit appliqué — was the common denominator in the collection. The cable knit pieces were complemented by harder, femme fatale looks with pretty cable knit dresses punched up with black leather gloves and a slinky tuxedo vest with tufts of fur.
Fong married an assortment of textures and fabrics such as Mongolian lambskin, cashmere and both chunky and feathery knits. A great example was the camel trench with diaphanous knit sleeves, slightly reminiscent of Rodarte. One of the best numbers one of the night were a pair of teal trousers paired with a sheer tuxedo shirt that was a magical medley of leather and chiffon. A little Gucci, a little Jerry Hall. Who would wear it today? Maybe Georgia Jagger.
Another standout was also one of the simplest—a form-fitting LBD with the prettiest of fur trimmings. Here, Fong understood the power of subtlety. The only anomaly of the night was a loud leopard-print skirt with a sheer turtleneck that looked out of place with the rest (although the leopard trench was more appropriate).
With VAWK’s first on-site presentation since Project Runway Canada, Fong succeeded on two accounts: He provided a show with accessible and likeable clothes and, like the crowd-pleaser he is, championed diversity on the runway.
