On Saturday night, the downtown New York designer, famous for her cult corsets and ultra-feminine evening pieces, dared to break into the men’s arena in style during her Spring 2025 show. The setting, a contemporary lobby at Hudson Yards, offered a stunning visual display with models descending a majestic staircase, illuminated by the glow of Manhattan.
Shui revealed that his inspiration for the show came from Matthew Barney’s SECONDARY exhibition, a video installation and terracotta sculptures influenced by Japanese Kintsugi art, which Shui visited at the Cartier Foundation in Paris this summer. His designs thus descended from the first floor, fragmented and reconstructed with renewed complexity.
Black tulle dresses became sculptural, with metallic floral appliqués provocatively concealing and revealing torsos. Patent leather corsets and stiff skirts were deployed in intricate gold patterns, a nod to the designer’s vast and growing archive. The foray into menswear was not far behind: loose corsets tied with thin leather strings were cinched around bodies, while reptilian-finish leather trousers carried the same design tactic down the legs.
Model Jake Fleming stood out with a similar look, replacing the leather ropes with silver ‘K’ zips that ran from the waist to the ankles. His top, a tight-fitting corset in shades of yellow-brown with draping at the shoulders, seemed tailor-made for the androgynous customer Shui seeks to win over. Later, a sequined tank top and revealing pink trousers, knotted with delicate bows, provided the perfect backdrop for a silver flower necklace that captured the attention of all present. The men’s tunics were also decorated with purple flowers.
The lilac leitmotif exploded in the home stretch: corsets, skirts and evening gowns captured the purest essence of Kim Shui, elevating her signature to new heights. Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles closed the show in a floral bodysuit covered in a floating cape, leading the final carousel of the collection as the living embodiment of Shui’s vision: a relentless pursuit of gold, in every detail.
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