Theo VII autumn/winter 2017 collection catwalk show for LFW

For their autumn/winter 2017 collection In the World of Shamanism, Theo VII’s Miao Ho, Yui Ding and Tan Xue Yi continued their signature marriage of men’s and womenswear by creating a solid collection that showed their skills as tailors and patternmakers.

Inspired by Shamanism and their communication with the supernatural world, the designers infused their long, fluid silhouettes with a bit of that ethereal magic by playing with reflective surfaces and fringes in all strengths and lengths.

The designers kept their silhouettes simple and elongated, the colour palette inspired by autumn and grounded by cooler, darker shades in the precisely tailored overcoats. They added a contemporary feel by fastening those long and heavy coats with mirroring buttons, a little detail that was also found attached to the quirky socks worn with masculine loafers to deliver a whimsical edge.

The youthful feel continued by the variety of fringing found throughout the collected, once thickened up and tied into knots at the waist of a luscious, sunflower yellow dress, and somewhere else in thinner strands, tied around the body like a sash and secured with rope.

The standout piece, apart from a beautifully clean, black waistcoat that brushed along the ankles, was a plum purple velvet dress that skimmed around the calves and sported a loose turtleneck. A few reflective embellishments that looked like abstracted, tiny feathers found on a shirt dress and another tailored pieced rounded off a collection that had ambitious inspiration but delivered without fail.

Teresa Kroenung
Photos: Amy Smith