Steventai spring/summer 2017 collection presentation for LFW

“Are they supposed to swing?”

“I hope so!” 

In the 15 minutes before his presentation kicked off in earnest, a joke between models captured perfectly the catchy, carefree feeling of Steven Tai’s SS17 collection. Guests to the presentation wandered through an artificial garden, strewn with painstakingly arranged baby’s breath and adorned with wooden standing swings, to admire the angular cuts and fabric combinations that make up Tai’s latest take on traditionally feminine silhouettes. 

Less striking perhaps than some of his previous collections, Tai’s SS17 pieces nonetheless do nod to his professional experience. Amongst the pastel pink shorts and gingham blue pinafore dresses, there are rough-edged hemlines – reminiscent of the torn fabrics seen during his time at Viktor & Rolf. As Tai explains, flitting between guests, this is the deliberate result of leaving unfinished the hand-woven fabrics used this season. 

Unusually, putting the fabrics and colour scheme aside, starched collars buttoned to the top were clearly the common feature across the collection. Repurposed pussy bows, rather than hanging as a necktie, became a key feature of a dress, ruching necklines and distorting an otherwise classically feminine design. Ribbed sleeveless tank tops served only to emphasise these unusual features and add an oddly utilitarian feel to ethereal pieces. Stood together, the models looked like an assembly of students in a quietly rebellious school uniform. Somewhere between the punks and Ghost World‘s Enid and Rebecca, this is a clique to be part of come Spring term. 

Katie Dean
Photos: Krish Nagari

For further information about Steventai visit here.