Kim Shui: Disrupting Fashion with Fall/Winter 2025 Collection
Since her groundbreaking win at the VFILES Runway Show during New York Fashion Week in 2016, Kim Shui has been shaking up the world of womenswear in Downtown New York City. But for her Fall/Winter 2025 season, Shui is taking things to the next level by challenging our ingrained beliefs and behaviors, urging us to reconsider traditional power structures and ideas of identity and intimacy.
Shui’s latest collection was unveiled in a glamorous Upper East Side ballroom, with a star-studded audience including Joey Bada$$ and SAINt JHN. The room was set up in a square formation, with a stunning crystal chandelier hanging in the center. According to the show notes, the 43-look collection aims to explore the relationship between sensuality and restraint through texture and form, offering a visual and tactile journey that delves into themes of agency, control, and resistance.
One of the main sources of inspiration for Shui’s designs was Italian artist Monica Bonvicini, particularly her use of leather belts and handcuffs. Shui chose to work with pleather as her “medium of transformation,” using it in various forms throughout the collection. From fringed and draped pieces to shredded and distressed ones, Shui invites us to see the material in a new light and disrupt its traditional association with dominance and toughness.
This idea of challenging preconceived notions of power and sensuality is evident in the exaggerated silhouettes and tactile materials used in the collection. Shui also incorporates her Chinese heritage into the designs, juxtaposing faux fur cowboy hats and bolo ties with Qipao collars and traditional Chinese embroidery. The snake, a symbol of rebirth and renewal, also makes an appearance in the collection, with lace and faux fur coiled together to resemble the shape of two snakes, as well as snakeskin-printed trousers and tops.
As always, Shui pays attention to every detail, with accessories like butt-shaped pleather bags adding to the provocative and thought-provoking nature of the presentation. The show notes conclude by encouraging us to rethink the symbols that define us, and to view the collection as a captivating exploration of autonomy and agency.
Take a look at the stunning runway images above and go behind the scenes with photographer Sarah Schecker in the video below to get a closer look at Kim Shui’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection. Prepare to have your beliefs and perceptions disrupted by this bold and boundary-pushing designer.
