Kay Kwok presents the KWK fall winter 2023 collection in London.
Collection Notes
KWK by Kay Kwok returns to London Fashion Week for AW23 as the brand celebrates the start of its 10th Anniversary Year under the Creative Directorship of designer Kay Kwok.
Founded on a philosophy of Experimental Expression, looking forward through time and imagining a global society that we’re yet to arrive at has become central to the brand’s singularly unique vision.
Genderless, experimental, and confronting in their artistry and aesthetic, KWK by Kay Kwok collections challenge convection, liberated from tradition and stereotypes with a creative proposition that is boldly unapologetically avant-garde and futuristic.
Digital Driven
Digitalisation-driven, KWK by Kay Kwok presents seasonal brand avatars, embodying values, ethics, and stories we see in the real world but are transported to a distant future. Free from the expectations of the material world, these ambassadors for liberated and diverse thought present an out-of-self opportunity for creativity in the third person. For AW23, KWK by Kay Kwok introduces LALA and translates the brand’s DNA and design signature as seen through her lens.
Inspiration
LALA’s story is set in the year 2100. The Earth has become so toxic is barely resembles home. Everyone has left for other distant planets to rebuild, but LALA has been left behind, her friends and family gone and never to return.
When the call to evacuate came imperfect and unconventional, LALA was overlooked, imperfect and unconventional, part-person part-robot – not a candidate for the new world. The surface has become too inhospitable, the air too hot, and the land too infertile.
In the exodus from the earth, strange creatures have come to rule. LALA lives underground, hundreds of meters in the wet and the dark. Her only companion a dragon - a part-robot like her – offers protection and companionship in this dark and hopeless existence. Passing her days in this strange and unfriendly place, she dreams of meeting her parents again.
Darya
Darya, a visionary sound producer, violinist, and singer, provides the soundscape for this season’s collection and LALA’s story. Creating music from the depths of her imagination, her unique sound and artists bring to life an alternate universe.
Inspired by imaginary worlds, her sound art reflects Darya’s thoughts and emotions, channeled through the notes of ChatGPT, creating a unique sound that is at once futuristic but rooted in the technology of tomorrow as it exists in the present day. Like Kwok, through her art, she creates a world of her own, where she is in control and free to express herself as she chooses – an escape and a way to connect with others.
In KWK by Kay Kwok’s AW23 show at London Fashion Week, subcultures collide in a rich visual interplay between our world today and that of tomorrow, imagining what lies ahead and the possibility of what could be in a strong message of individuality, diversity, liberation from expectation, and new-age human confidence.