Spring/Summer 2019 Runway

After bringing out a series of fashion collections such as “The theatre of mao’er” and “Jade in the shadow”, MUKZIN – the Chinese designer brand – has gradually built up its unique and distinguished features. Inspired by elements that were in traditional Chinese cultures, MUKZIN has established this fashion brand that blends the styles of both East and West from the perspectives of philosophic thought, aesthetic appreciation and workmanship. In March 2018, MUKZIN unveiled its very first overseas show in Paris and the brand released "Daan" its Spring/Summer 2019 collection at London Fashion Week.

This season, Kate Han, MUKZIN’s designer, aims attention at the packaging design of time-honored Chinese patent medicine brands in Hong Kong. She believes that the packaging of Chinese patent medicine in Hong Kong contains a sense of humanity and a profound touch of traditional Chinese culture, while conveying the philosophy and essence of Chinese medicine culture to the audience. As a product of cultural fuses between the East and West, the packaging of Chinese patent medicine started to flourish against the unique cultural background in Hong Kong. As a result, these symbols have been transformed into details inside and outside of MUKZIN fashion designs
in the coming new season.

Starting from classic packaging of four major medicines, i.e. Gao (cream), Wan (small round pills), Daan (granule) and You (embrocation), Kate Han takes efforts to investigate into the clothing and the question how those combinations of China and the West present a unique retro feeling in the contemporary context from the perspectives of eastern aesthetics. The new series has an intention-revealing name: DAAN (Dan Medicine). As one of the most representative images in Chinese culture, Dan Medicine itself has been marked with specific cultural attributes, particularly in the manufacture process of Chinese patent medicine: Dan Medicine no longer simply representing the appearance of Chinese patent medicine, with its appearance and core gradually being “integrated”. Meanwhile, she also looks forward to maintaining the aesthetic system imbued with Chinese cultural legacies through this collection.

Bright and colorful packaging designs of the time-honored Chinese patent medicine brands are eye-catching but harmonious, which complies with the traditional coloring concept of “Pure, Bright and Colorful” in China. MUKZIN has always been maintaining the oriental style of high saturation colors. Therefore, about the color choice for Spring/Summer 2019, Kate Han tries to follow the coloring concepts of the packaging of Chinese patent medicine as much as possible, be it visually or potentially: the concept of Five Colors, i.e. Qing (an non-western color, blue-ish green), Red, Yellow, White and Black.