RUI's Newest Collection Is an Ode to Time and Space Distortion
Hazy fabrics fused by crystal pearl embellishments contemplate time and space in RUI's most recent collection, Floating Memory.
RUI’s A/W 2021 collection is inspired by the story of Henry Gustav Molaison, an amnesiac who remained in a short loop of consciousness throughout his life, with nothing but an epilepsy of new memories blurring in his brain.
Floating Memory encompasses the theme of time and space distortion. Chinese designer Rui Zhou’s newest collection illuminates this frozen state of "ever being" that Henry Gustav Molaison was known for. Capitalizing on the movement of clothing, Rui Zhou explores the complex relationships between skin and fabric, entity and boundary, and transience and permanence.
The color palette of muted colors lends to the fragility of the pieces. Her delicate works manifest as a spectrum of hollow silhouettes, teetering between exposure and concealment. Floating Memory carries hints of tasteful high-saturation hues like fuschia and teal that are reminiscent of the designer's childhood, vividly reconstructing past memories.
Rui Zhou is known to create clothing that acts as an extension of the body, twisting the garments to amplify one's form and deliberately revealing hints of skin. She skillfully uses the shape of one’s body as a frame and consequently uses the garment as a blank canvas for her creations. Overlapping materials act as a second layer of a skin within Floating Memory, adding a hollow and ethereal effect to her garments. In addition to her use of classic knitted fabrics, feather yarns and fancy yarns can be seen in her new pieces. Her knitted tops, braces, skirts, and pants expose a small amount of skin, enabling a more subtle and restrained way to express emotions and to solely serve pragmatism.
Her structural shapes easily blend into the body, often with pearlescent details that delicately link the pieces together. Similar to her Fall 2020 collection titled Adrift, Floating Memory explores the tension between the body and space and the boundary between substance and nothingness through its intricate and contemplative pieces.
