Menswear designer Chul Yong has shared the lookbook images for his label Cy Choi’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection with The Style Examiner. With its relaxed tailoring, exploration of innovative fabrics, and use of bright colours in contrast with black and muted greys, this seventh collection by Cy Choi is one of the strongest (f not the strongest) since the label was founded in Paris in 2009.
Named ‘Spectrum’, the collection explores how colours are produced when light passes through a glass prism or a drop of water. To this end, Cy Choi investigated the dualities found in this physical process and how it applied to artistic creativity: when light is generated, one observes an initial stage of Collision and Resistance (as light passes through a prism it collides with the physicality of the prism itself, thus encountering resistance) followed by a stage of Refraction and Diffusion (the result of the collision and resistance between light and prism that ultimately synthesises and resolves the duality of forms), leading to the creation of Rainbow and Invisible Rays (colours that are recognised by the human eye and infrared and ultraviolet lights that are invisible to our naked eyes).
Cy Choi used the dualities found in the spectrum process to create a collection that mixed a neutral palette of black, light grey, anthracite and white against vivid shades such as yellow, red, blue, green, with horizontal and diagonal stripes providing a contrasting detail. Trousers came slightly cropped and frequently pleated, whereas shirts were either plain or incorporated a buttoned waist-coat, overcoats and raincoats came in single and double-breasted versions, and the influence of sportswear could be seen in a range of cycling blousons.
However, it was the strong and confident reinterpretation of traditional suiting that stood out, in unusual and yet elegant details such as collarless coats, contrasting fabrics and colours used for the sleeves, asymmetric buttoning, or the use of zippers not only to close garments but also in pockets and cuffs. To complement the collection, Cy Choi collaborated with Japanese leather goods makers Roberu to produce a range of leather bags in a variety of shapes and colours.
