Designer Hee Soo Kim has been showing on the official Paris calendar since 2017 in a presentation or casual catwalk formula. This time he sent out a full range of coed looks in a polished parade intended for commercial sale without compunction.
Witness soft suits and fluid tailoring for both genders, fuzzy knits, monochrome modern suiting of loose trousers and high-collared jackets, and paper bag-waist pants.
Kim looked to the idea of first love — and loss — for the collection, which was titled “Summer Love,” occasionally written on graphic T-shirts, and carried across in the more romantic silhouette this season. It didn’t read saccharine; instead a neutral palette of creams, chocolate and sand anchored the collection.
It was a shift from the harder leather and more structural looks of the recent past, with softer shoulders, more voluminous sleeves and wisps of layered fabric that billowed with each step.
The textile was meant to symbolize flower petals blowing away in the breeze, Kim said — and flowers played a big part on other looks, notably prints on dark denim used for boxer shorts on women and bombers on men.
Track pants with a bra top and open jacket, or a body suit tucked into a tweed pencil skirt were key looks for women; waffle knits and striped separates worked on men.
But with a petal-cut minidress followed by the same material in a men’s jacket, it was evident the young System customer shares the same codes regardless of gender.
If the collection lacked its avant-garde edge this season, that’s intentional: System is opening its first flagship in Paris this week and wants the smart staples to be widely accessible as the brand builds on its fashion week momentum that it wants to covert into sales.