ss-2019
For the Spring and Summer collection 2019 Renli Su explores the fairy tale world of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. The Victorian poems tells the story of two sisters who follow the calls of goblin merchants selling their fantastic fruits in the twilight.
“Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy:
Apples and quinces,
Lemons and oranges,
Plump unpeck’d cherries,
Melons and raspberries,
Bloom-down-cheek’d peaches,
Swart-headed mulberries,
Wild free-born cranberries,
Crab-apples, dewberries,
Pine-apples, blackberries,
Apricots, strawberries;—
All ripe together
In summer weather,—”
The magical realism of the poem inspired Renli to create her carefully crafted pieces. From the pear shaped bag to the ruffled silk ribbons, all details have the purpose to draw you into a world of dreams and desires.
The quinces and gooseberries from the story appear in the prints of this collection. The fruit represent the pleasure of the less usual, of rare textures and tastes, dark teardrop seeds shining through crisp translucent skins. The gooseberries and and their blossoms’ alien shape appear in large scale on a rich cotton-linen-silk jacquard for playful oversized bomber jackets and on a lightweight semi-sheer cotton-nylon used for asymmetrical ribbon dresses. Tiny yellow quinces dot over a black salt-treated linen-silk fabric with rough wavy texture, creating a darker aspect to the cheerful prints.
The striped linen-cotton suits, with metallic thread woven into the fabric, show the more androgynous side of Renli. A historical element is always the starting point for shapes and cut, but the result is refreshingly timeless.
