There’s a particular strength to softness, to knowing when to give in and sway rather than stand one’s ground in firmness. The concept in itself is oxymoronic, but part of holding on is knowing when to let go.
This is what Jingwei Yin was getting at with his spring 2024 collection for Oude Waag, which found its muse in the Japanese freedivers known as Ama, women who collect abalone and pearls and have built a mythicized community rooted in the independence and strength of the female spirit. To know when to dive deeper or resurface requires a unique understanding of one’s body. It’s a poetic but unmistakable metaphor for what it takes to be resilient.
Such is the skill of Yin, a Royal College of Art graduate who founded his label in 2017, that he was able to convey this by way of ingenious draping, tacking, shirring, and tailoring. He did stints at both Haider Ackermann and Hussein Chalayan prior to establishing Oude Waag, but his hand is decisively sexier and significantly more revealing. Not necessarily younger, but certainly contemporary and in line with some of his trendier Western counterparts.
“The flowing chiffon brings a sense of floating under the sea as you move,” said Yin after the show, explaining that the many knots he employed as focal points in his draping and as winding details in his tailored pieces—none more enthralling than his opening jacket—were modeled on the shapes of abalone shells and the twists in natural pearls. More literal were his interpretations of fishing nets in the shape of meticulously distressed crochet knitwear. Especially mesmerizing were the trains that billowed from his severely tailored jackets (see looks 10 or 24).
Molding fabric around the body the way Yin does is equal parts math and intimacy. That he understands exactly where to gather volume and how to release it was made clear by the way the bodice of a gown cascaded from a necklace, twisted at the navel, and draped loosely at the back, softly caressing the model’s spine the way a wave moves back and forth on the shore.
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