There are two kinds of people in the world: the ones that captivate and the ones that observe– and Kim Shui is a put-on-a-show sort of lady. With a fall collection rife with snakeskin trenches, glamorous fur collars, and incredibly short miniskirts, the Kim Shui lady commands attention any place she goes, and she knows it, too. Creating with confidence is not a brand-new concept for the designer, but this season’s It Girls walked the runway like they understand the world is theirs for the taking (in addition to the flexibility that includes that mindset).
Here, knowledge equates to power in the style of Kim Shui’s AW23 collection. She took her usual event of the female kind and cranked it up a notch, imbuing a sense of autonomy through type into her styles and stimulating an intersectional dialogue on what it implies to live freely. The designs cascaded winding stairs in the previous bank Capitale, with Harvard trainee and fashion beneficiary Aoki Lee Simmons opening the show.
Happy mommy and fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons beinged in the front row with her other child Ming Lee Simmons while influencer Jodie Woods and Gossip Girl actresses (Zión Moreno and Savannah Lee Smith) flanked either side. Regardless of the stars in the audience, the most gratifying moment of the program was perhaps seeing how richly varied Kim Shui’s design line-up was: Women of all skin tones, hair textures, body shapes, and sizes strongly strutted down the catwalk.
The message is clear: It’s no longer a male’s world– and it isn’t a world controlled by immutable hegemonic structures, either. The majority of the designs (37 out of 41) were females of color, a rarity amongst programs shown at New York Fashion Week. Individuals on social media discussed how revitalizing it was to see clothing used and celebrated on people with “regular bodies,” i.e., not straight size.
Even the place of the show held significance. Shui shares that she chose her location because of its historic function in restricting financial liberty for women. “The reason I chose this location is since the bank is a place that traditionally withheld power from women,” she tells InStyle. “I wanted to recover that because the entire thing had to do with ladies’s agency, females’s freedom to reveal themselves, and public versus personal. How are they able to move in between what you can be anticipated to use at home versus out in public? I seem like ladies are put at different requirements.”
With an abundance of see-through bodysuits, belts that doubled as skirts (skimming just the bottom of the buttcheeks), and provocative cutouts, this collection is certainly attractive. Developed by a lady for ladies, however, means that there was an on-point sensibility when it came to the silhouette and the product of the garments. “I desired things to be like excess,” the designer shared.
Shui also utilized techniques such as crosshatching and netting to either cover or expose the body. Vegan snakeskin and vegan fur mentioned physically protective layers discovered in nature, while clear snakeskin trench coats evoked an effective and sensuous image of reclamation and shedding any constraints. Altogether, the separate pieces worked together to highlight the methods which ladies’s bodies and voices have actually been (and continue to be) obscured and thus overturn those standards.
The charm instructions, led by MAC Cosmetics, was likewise big, vibrant, and informed through a lady’s perspective. There was no timeless red lipstick or sultry clear gloss that you might consider when you imagine “attractive” makeup– the lively look was rather a dark magenta lip lined in purple. There’s nothing conventionally sexy about it, but then again, what’s standard about a Kim Shui reveal?
Long hair, cropped curls, bountiful afros, swinging braids, and colorful streaks were just a few of the styles endured the runway; it’s clear that the Kim Shui collection is for every girl, no matter how she decides to use her hair or how she feels that day. With a client list that includes Solange Knowles, Meg Thee Stallion, and Bella Hadid, it’s apparent Kim Shui’s messaging resonates with the most fashionable of celebrities. When I ask which star look Shui is most excited to have actually styled, she has an instant response– although not the one I was expecting. “The funny thing is I get the most excited when I’m going on a coffee run, and I see somebody on the street using my things.”.
For Kim Shui, the possession of power does not need to be acquired by removing it from others or counting on old systems. All it takes is the bravery to stand in your fact.
