Celine Kwan’s Energetic Clothes Aim to Make You Smile

Her first post-school collection, shown during Paris Fashion Week fall 2022, served as a continuation of this joyful approach to fashion. Her clothes are certainly not for wallflowers; Kwan still focuses on bright colors and exaggerated silhouettes. For this collection, she looked again to the living room for inspiration, this time referencing retro furniture designs. “I was looking a lot at ’60s furniture and product designers,” she says. “I’m always inspired by Verner Panton and Joe [Cesare] Colombo. The beautiful shapes, boldness, and material progression that was pushed in the ’60s really inspired my collection.”

In the line you’ll find sleeveless shift dresses printed with dramatic florals, and two-piece sets including a psychedelic skirt and jacket. For Kwan, it was important to have a range in the line—from more refined pieces, like her pink skirt suit, to the extremely bold, like her theatrical flower headpieces. “I wanted to create [pieces] that a mother and daughter could wear,” she says. There’s also technical innovation in the mix: A top and bottom set is covered in tiles that were 3-D printed. “3-D printing is one of the most wasteless techniques,” says Kwan. “The plastic is made out of corn, and you can reuse it.” Some of the floral appliqués in the collection were also made using the futuristic production method.

As the line continues to progress, Kwan wants to continue doing even “bigger” silhouettes, experiment with collaborations, and furthering her technical innovations. “I really want to push the boundaries of clothing,” says Kwan. With celebrities like Lizzo having already worn her groovy, trippy dresses, she also has her sights set on dressing more stars. “I hope I can do Doja Cat or Dua Lipa one day,” she says. Above all, though, she wants to make whatever client she’s dressing experience unfiltered joy through style. “In fashion, there’s a lot of competitiveness and seriousness,” says Kwan. “I just want to have fun with it!”