The Forbidden Liaisons

With traditional Mandarin collars, high necklines, and cape-like arm openings, this collection is a nod to the formal, luxuriant, and sometimes stifling way women dressed in China before the cultural revolution. Movies 'House of Flying Daggers' (directed by Zhang Yimou) and 'In the Mood for Love' (directed by Kar Wai Wong) highlighted how China’s cultural sheltering of women led to ardent seduction — a common theme in this collection. Corrie Nielsen deploys a range of fabrics, using cotton pique, waxed cottons, cotton silk blends, latex, and wool bouclé to reinterpret Chinese dress cuts from the 1950s. Each piece reveals its character slowly, much like an alluring starlet in a classic film.