YOUJIA JIN AUTUMN/WINTER 2015-16 READY-TO-WEAR LONDON FASHION WEEK

If Alice had lived in a dystopian wonderland, she surely would have been wearing Youjia Jin’s latest collection. Jin’s Autumn Winter 2015 collection at London Fashion Week was full of classic pieces injected with a sort of whimsical innovation resulting in tailored blazers made anew with oversized satin bows, sheer underlays, and layers of applied organza pleats as well as jumpsuits with peplum pleats, a beautifully weighted, asymmetrical coat, and trousers with an attached back acting like a skirt. The result was, as Jin put it, a “fearless and strong-willed Alice”. This is not for the timid, brightly eluminated Alice who’s afraid to speak her mind; this is a collection for the multidimensional Alice who likes her clothing to hold the same ideal. Multidimensionality was everywhere, and with a stark gray color palate it truly let Jin’s expert handiwork and tailoring shine through. There seems to be an alternate land for Alice, after all, one where whimsy doesn’t mean silliness, and where elegance manages to still feel playful.