The RUOHAN Autumn/Winter 2024 collection marks the final chapter of the three-part collection series: Forms, Lines, and Points. Comprising 34 looks, this collection returns to the most primitive essence of clothing, focusing on a single element and varying it in different depths. The designer explores the significance of the « point » in the language of clothing design – as basic building fragments, as support for lines, as the result of the intersection of lines, and as the minimal depth of a surface. RUOHAN delves into various aspects of the existence of points, their manifestations in life, and their directional significance. Starting points, endpoints, intersections, highest and lowest points, focus and defocus, and the minimal points of contact with objects all embody the essence of points.
RUOHAN revisits echoes of past series, carrying the traditional cultural Chinese meaning. The collection respects the poetry around the forms, including the squares of yore and the harmonious pleats. Squares dissolve into lines, carving narratives upon fabric; pleats unfurl into singular folds, hidden within the fabric’s embrace, reminiscent of childhood’s playful origami, revealing secrets with each unfolding from one singular point.
For the last chapter of the trilogy, RUOHAN showcases the collection at Lafayette Anticipations, the 19th Century building spanning two small streets in the Marais. Platforms rise and fall, weaving tales of past and present, converging at the heart of the agora. Here, amidst the echoes of time, OMA’s modern embrace breathes life into aged stone. Meanwhile, the designer metaphorically infuses her essence into the ‘double-layer’ building, becoming its third layer and shaping the narrative of the day within its walls.
What about RUOHAN’s design language – its points, lines, and forms? After a year and a half of exploration, they start to harmonize. This language is the lining of silk satin organza, the parallelogram single-pockets, the proportionate chaos of pleats, the algorithm in the merchandising plan, and the anticipation of series yet untold.