Christian Wijnants has always drawn strength from restraint. For fall, he looked to Japanese karesansui, or landscaped Zen gardens, translating their raked lines and sense of stillness into considered, sculptural silhouettes. “Sometimes when I’m trying to fall asleep, I imagine what can quiet my mind and I come back to Zen thinking and the memory of visiting gardens in Kyoto,” the designer said.
Key outerwear came without collars or lapels, evoking ceremonial robes and a monastic style of dress with cocooned shoulders and marked waists. The clearest expressions of this were the Cumba coat in moss wool and the Jirono jacket, whose front panels could be left loose or tied into a sculptural knot, though the thought continued across knitwear and accessories.
After more than 20 years in the business, Wijnants has built a loyal following that appreciates his love of craft. Come fall, there will be an array of well-constructed pieces to choose from, including cropped shirting and blazers, sometimes layered over detachable shirt bibs, and pieces with integrated scarf panels that add interest and dimension to blouses and knit tops. The Zen garden motif was most apparent in superfine knitwear with graceful, enlarged ribbing. Of those pieces and a coat in green faux fur sourced from the German manufacturer Steiff, the designer offered, “It reminds me of the stones and the moss you see in those gardens.”
Prints developed from the work of French landscape photographer Quentin Chamard-Bois evoked sun-dappled forests and falling leaves. The palette moved from sand, pale seafoam, and light laurel through moss, chestnut, and rust, arriving at dust blue and Klein blue. In lieu of a PFW show, this collection will get an outing in Antwerp in June, as part of a three-day festival celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Antwerp Six. It will also be Wijnants’s debut show in his hometown. But most of all, these ideas, shapes, colors and materials are underserved by a flat screen: this is a collection that will be best appreciated in a runway format.
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