At Shanghai Fashion Week, the Chinese label's 'Til We're Us softens the Gong Girl. Designer Mark Gong says it's built from heartbreak, pastel lace and sequins, with no leather at all.
There is no leather anywhere in the new MARKGONG SS27 collection. For a label built around urban romance, that choice shapes the whole mood.
The collection is called ‘Til We’re Us. It debuted at Shanghai Fashion Week and is the second chapter of the Urban Love story from Chinese designer Mark Gong. He has since talked to DSCENE about what went into it, and the answer starts with heartbreak.
Pastel lace, sequins, and a pink corridor
Gong’s materials are pastel lace and sequins, and the runway was staged as a pink corridor. Both point the same way, towards something softer than a typical fashion-week statement. The collection also reshapes the label’s muse. This season’s Gong Girl is a gentler version of herself.
Gong also told DSCENE about the music that kept him company while he worked. An Olivia Rodrigo album was on repeat, which suits a collection that grew out of personal heartbreak.
Chapter two
‘Til We’re Us follows the first Urban Love chapter, so the two seasons together make a story told in clothes.
For anyone tracking Asian designers who put their own lives into their collections, MARKGONG is worth watching. The SS27 show kept the emotional pitch high and left leather out entirely.
Via DSCENE
