Uma Wang S/S16

Exclusive insight written by Anca Macavei and photographed by Marco Giuliano.

Each single element came to smoothen and complement another and form a complete picture that reinforced a different idea of femininity while opening a whole new range of emotions and faith in promises yet to be fulfilled in these austere times that we are living. Words by Anca Macavei and photography by Marco Giuliano.

When one can address or reopen a subject with something new, from a different angle, then there is some hope.. People around are suddenly gazing at something else and start pausing for a moment. And while gazing and pausing, they reflect at the totality of their own knowledge and are surprised at how little did they knew about the effects that a sensitive mind can still create upon them. And that’s something that Uma Wang can do for you: she can enter for a moment above the pool of your own consciousness and projections. Because she has a different kind of understanding, fundamentally more subtle, that can universally harmonise the surroundings with her inner flow. In essence, her works stand for sensitivity, for poetic femininity. It’s like the pause one takes between two deep breaths, like the silence that make the words stand out, like the quiet moments we all need to take in order to turn our hectic lives in something truly meaningful.

There was a wonderful sense of beauty and vulnerability, to which we were all attending. The show opened in a ceremonial setting with a group of young ballerinas performing on Erick Satie’s Gymonopedie No.1, a melancholic soundtrack with deliberate, but mild, dissonances against harmony. The ethereal bodies wearing the collection where casted for their feminine and delicate backs; they had a renaissance looks in their eyes while moving gracefully in that charmingly romantic and decadent Hall of Cariatidi decorum inside the The Royal Palace of Milan.

The concept behind this collection was centred around the process of training and of commitment that an artistic activity like ballet requires, and that is very much similar to those very few minutes of seasonal glory of a fashion designer when showing each collection, the ultimate work for which all other work is but preparation, the greatness that while unfolding has already been forgotten. Draping, pleating, light flowing silhouettes and uncovered skin, a strong statement to come against her previous collections that used to predominantly hide the body, a proof that she is not a follower of strange believes or religion as some might have thought and that instead she knows perfectly how to contrast and master the the silent and vulnerable space between the clothes and the body.

Each single element came to smoothen and complement another and form a complete picture that reinforced a different idea of femininity while opening a whole new range of emotions and faith in promises yet to be fulfilled in austere times like these that we are living.

Official backstage at Uma Wang S/S16, words by Anca Macavei and photography by Marco Giuliano.

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