BETWEEN EAST AND WEST: ENTERING THE WORLD OF ZIGGY CHEN

Some designers come to fashion young. Ziggy Chen came to it through the classroom. Born in Wuhan in 1969, he studied fashion design at China Textile University (today Donghua University) in Shanghai, graduated in 1994 and stayed on to teach. Years spent in textile education, and later running a company of his own, gave him something few labels begin with: an intimate, practical understanding of fabric.

When he founded his eponymous label in 2012, presenting a first collection for Autumn/Winter 2012, that knowledge became the foundation of everything that followed. Today, Ziggy Chen presents on the official Paris Men's Fashion Week calendar.

WHERE OLD AND NEW BLUR: A DIALOGUE OF CULTURES

Ziggy Chen is built on an encounter between tradition and the present. Traditional Chinese workwear, military uniform details and the art and culture of Southeast Asia meet the romance of 17th-century European dress and the ruggedness of American workwear.

Rather than collide, these references are softened and reworked into fluid, sinuous silhouettes that move with the body. The clothes read as neither historical nor contemporary, but as something quietly in between: east and west, old and new, past and present, held in an understated and reserved form.

FABRIC FIRST: RESEARCH FROM THE SHANGHAI ATELIER

Every collection begins with material research in the Shanghai atelier, where fabrics sourced from around the world are developed in-house. The brand's approach includes:

• natural fibres at the core: linen, hemp, wool and cashmere
• fabrics that are striped, crumpled, reassembled, yarn-dyed and overdyed
• multi-dimensional trompe-l'œil effects that play with depth and surface
• a palette drawn from nature and memory: crimson, tan, olive green and beige

The result is an energy that balances rawness and durability with softness and elegance. Garments look found rather than manufactured, yet they are cut with real precision.

DECONSTRUCTED, YET WEARABLE: THE ZIGGY CHEN SILHOUETTE

For more than a decade, Chen has refined his patterns and fits through a distinctly deconstructed approach to tailoring. Volumes are relaxed and comfortable, and construction is often left in view: linings, seams and interior details become part of the garment's language.

Wearability is never an afterthought. The cuts are developed to work across a wide range of body types, making Ziggy Chen a wardrobe to live in rather than a costume to perform.

ZIGGY CHEN AT ORIMONO

Ziggy Chen joins Orimono from the Autumn/Winter 2026 season. His work sits naturally within our curated selection: understated, material-led and made to be lived in.

• deconstructed tailoring with relaxed, forgiving volumes
• natural fibres with lived-in, textured finishes
• shirting, trousers and outerwear designed to be layered
• pieces that complement Yohji Yamamoto, Masnada, Marc Point and Guidi

These are pieces that reward a closer look: a lining glimpsed at the cuff, a yarn that catches the light unevenly, a volume that only makes sense once it moves with the body.

Read more about the new season in Ziggy Chen AW26 – DISSPARATION, or explore Ziggy Chen at Orimono.