EXHIBITION | Curatorial Statement

The Love of Couture: Artisanship in Fashion Beyond Time

The Love of Couture: Artisanship in Fashion Beyond Time is a tribute to the indispensable influence of fashion throughout history. Developed by K11 in collaboration with the V&A, designed by revered Hong Kong Production Designer and Co-Chair William Chang Suk Ping, and featuring the creations of 6 emerging East Asian designers, this two-part exhibition showcases the never-ending evolution of fashion aesthetics across 200 years of couture.

Helmed by Chang’s unique vision, the exhibition explores the theme of “love after love”, celebrating each garment as a culmination of stitches from every generation before it. Visual elements convey the passage of time, with the installation of a brain scan lighting up to mimic the synapses of a person in love, serving as the centrepiece representing our everlasting devotion to couture and its continual pursuit of beauty.

An exchange across time, place, and cultures, featuring garments from the Victorian era to present day, The Love of Couture brings focus to the legacy of fashion and centuries of savoir-faire that continue to inspire future generations of designers. Traverse between the east and west, from the past to the present and beyond, and embark on a journey of imagination — all for the love of couture.

Emerging Fashion Designers

Engaged in the perennial dialogue of couture, 6 emerging East Asian designers have constructed bespoke responses to the British and French womenswear from the V&A’s collection. Each work embodies a clash of identities from the east and west, past and present, and of the ever-evolving ideal of beauty.

Fabrics, technologies, shapes, and colours serving as the building blocks of fashion are deconstructed and reconstructed to assume a deeply personal vision of each designer’s love for couture. A cultural exchange that traces a physical manifestation of self expression, this exhibition chronicles the evolution of fashion, its creation process, and the endless possibilities of an art form that must forever be acclaimed.

Tomo Koizumi

Celine Kwan

Sensen Lii

Ryunosuke Okazaki

Sohee Park

Yueqi Qi