We11done Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection

After a few changes to their team and work structure, the We11done team has been playing catch up over the last couple of seasons. Trying to realign with the fashion calendar while not skipping a season has not proven easy, and change-induced chaos has been atop their list of conversation topics for a while. But there is always calm after a storm, and so this season, their last off-schedule and away from the runways, the chaos was refashioned into a collection that looked back at We11done’s DNA in order to move forward.

In recent collections, We11done’s Jessica Jung has found inspiration in her love for art, looking at specific paintings or artists as a vehicle to tell her stories. This time around, she decided to think more broadly, but without moving away from art entirely. “What makes art modern or postmodern?” is the question Jung and her colleague Youngjin Kim posed for fall, which led them through an exploration of “breaking down the codes of tradition with technical or visual distortion,” Kim said.

As a philosophy, postmodernism is rooted in the rejection of a universal truth, which was best distilled in the collection via unconventional detailing on staple pieces. Silver and gold lamé biker shorts and sequined tights were paired with formalwear on men; slits on office skirts were hiked all the way up and V-neck brushed mohair sweaters were cleverly cut backless or with ripped hulking necklines. The halter top handbag introduced last season was recontextualized here, gaining a bigger spotlight in this upside down world of askew classics, ditto the wavy effect on spring’s slip dresses, here on leather skirts and slips. Most striking were tailored jackets and top coats, shaped just slightly oversized, with two parallel ripples running vertically on each front bodice panel—their distortion was noticeable but subtle enough to pass as familiar. The We11done ethos is to make gender-neutral clothing, though their vision seems to speak the loudest in the “menswear” space. It should come as no surprise that the next time we see them will be at their menswear show in Paris this June.

“Twisted Classics” was the name of this fall delivery; that this sentiment happens to encompass what we see in fashion at large today is no mistake. At the recent menswear collections, designers returned to classical elegance by way of prim tailoring in new proportions, while the current women’s shows continue to explore the idea of undoneness through eroded fabrics, creases, patchwork, and more. Fashion finds itself grappling with what things are and what they should be in the post-pandemic world: What is a uniform? What is a classic jacket? What is an office-ready sweater or a day-to-night skirt? Nobody seems to have a definitive answer just yet, but We11done has the right approach to solving this riddle by being willing to explore it. What’s more postmodern, after all, than looking into a multitude of experiences versus laser-focusing on one all-encompassing answer?