Mystery Man at Songzio - MFW Day 4

I shall skip the a.testoni and Canali shows and go straight into Songzio. The show started with a single man's silhouette against the backdrop with Songzio's name on it. Before the spotlight was on, this man was already intriguing with his high bowler hat with the rim pulled down low enough to hide his eyes and a long black coat. The first few looks were again, all black ensembles a la fellow Korean designer GIL Homme, but I especially liked how the styling was done. The model was encrusted in all black, including his hands, which were in fitted leather gloves, but the deep V-cut of the blazer showed off just a glimpse of his defined chest. Already the message was strong - it was the exploration of a samurai man, a man without boundaries.

The subsequent looks were equally strong, with Japanese influences. The V-neck cut was akin to Japanese traditional kimono for men, paired with the leather elastic obi belt and the flowy wide leg pants that I really love, which was again a reference to the Japanese hakama, a pleated wide leg pants typically worn by samurais to hide their footwork. See if you can see the resemblance between this traditional Japanese costume and photo #2. In my opinion, what made this look so intriguing and fresh is its blend of Western details into Japanese tailoring - the high top bowler hat, the scarf tied rodeo cowboy style and those heavy military boots.

Paw-like gloves with shiny leather shorts

Utility zippers, fur and leather panels on inseams of pants

Last look for the show

Subsequently, as Songzio started to play with fur and leather, the looks were so good they gave me shivers (from excitement). Fur was attached onto the leather gloves, making the models' hands look like paws, while silver heavy utility zippers ran down the front and back of their rayon knits in an almost spine-like manner. I especially loved the leather panels running in the inseams of the pants, it was an ingenious mix of fabrics. At this point, it was hard to tell whether it really was a man or a beast that was being implied through the designs.

The sudden introduction of 3 scarlet red looks into the collection of blacks, whites and grays proved a little startling, but I felt these 3 were the most iconic out of the collection. The red cocoon jacket and pants showed peeks of black from the arm holes as well as the inseams of the red pants through the use of contrasting black panels again. That structured, padded jacket with high collars even looked futuristic as the collars framed the face and gave the illusion of broader shoulders. It is worth noting that Songzio tended to hide the necks of the models from view, with turtleneck knits, rodeo scarves and raised collars - I am still wondering why it was intentionally styled to be so - it is almost as though he is suggesting that despite the idea of these men being samurai, they are trapped, cocooned and restrained.

Altogether, a highly intriguing collection with attention paid to details and choice of fabrics. I would strongly recommend you to watch his full show here.