Cultural Blender: Ground Zero Fall 2016
Designed by Hong Kong duo Philip and Eri Chu, Ground Zero crackles with cross-cultural transgression and avant-garde authenticity. Showing at Milk this season, the brothers drew inspiration from various rebellious subcultures, in particular freestyle motocross, skate culture, Japanese anime/cyber-punk cartoons, and DIY ideology. There were Chinese punk patchworks, embroidered tees, stonewashed hoodies, and distressed denim get-ups with oversized safety pins and tribal add-ons that gave the collection a roguish character. Subversive Chinese letters were detectable upon closer examination, slogans that, translated, read Lucky Pussy and Beware of the Bitch.
The Chu brothers brilliantly corralled any number of creative impulses, finding elegance in the kitschy, while asking questions like what constitutes ‘value’ in fashion, and fetishizing all things artisanal. “We designed the collection for iconoclasts and insurgents who are driven by self-expression and stand out from the crowd,” the brothers said. “We repurposed textiles, patches, embellishments, and accessories that reflect a sense radical individualism.”
