Feng Chen Wang FW26 – Harmony in Opposites

“Two forces, One motion” by Feng Chen Wang

The Chinese-born, London-based designer Feng Chen Wang, presented her latest FW26 show during Paris Fashion Week in January, we revisit her collection to uncover the secrets and stories behind its extraordinary creative process. The collection explores Liang Yi, the Chinese concept of balancing extremes, such as calm and chaos. Every detail was carefully curated, such as adding dragon-horse charms to celebrate the Lunar Year of the Horse and symbolise vitality and clinical momentum.

Liang Yi is like yin and yang, but on a higher, deeper level.

This dialogue of contrasts was visible across every look in Feng Chen Wang’s collection. Button-up shirts and bow ties matched with wild faux-fur accessories and animal prints. While exposed zippers on heavy knitwear revealed striped shirts, merging classic design with modern deconstruction. Fur jackets met pinstriped tailoring, as leopard print and snakeskin harmoniously coexisted with preppy, back-to-school codes. An eye-catcher was a stunning waxed denim set in earthy hues.

The collection thrived on opposition, mixing heavy wool and leather with fluid silk and lightweight down. The highlight of the show was dogs, whose owners walked them down the runway, dressed in matching sets. As Feng Chen Wang explained, this was another way to break down boundaries, this time between man and beast

It’s about two different personas and two forces, but they come together in a very peaceful way.

Feng Chen Wang on Craft, Heritage, and Building a Global Brand

Your brand is rooted in London. What led you to present your shows in Paris instead?

London is like my second home, I studied there and lived there for more than thirteen years, and we have stores there, so it’s very important to me. I love London, the culture, the arts, fashion, everything.

Now we are trying to build Feng Chen Wang as a global brand. China is our first market, Japan is the second one, and North America, like LA, New York, and even Canada, our consumers are everywhere.

But Paris is more global, more international. You see all the buyers here, and they don’t all go to London. If you want to build an international brand, you must be in Paris. My showroom is here, and buyers come from everywhere. So Paris Fashion Week helps the message go out to consumers all around the world. That’s why we choose to show here.

A core pillar of Feng Chen Wang is working with traditional Chinese artisans. How do you discover them?

China has incredible artisans, like France does, but they are not promoted. People, especially the young generation, forget these techniques that are hundreds, even thousands of years old. They focus a lot on modern life, big brands, and sometimes forget their roots. I grew up in the south of China, and my grandma was also an artisan, so it inspired me a lot. That’s why I’m always looking for local artisans, but it’s not easy because you cannot really find them online or on social media. I have to travel myself to the countryside, one by one, to find them.

Many of them are already old, and the techniques are hard to pass down because young people move to big cities. So for me, it’s also about supporting the local community and bringing these old techniques into new design, to give them new life.  One of the things I can do, as one of the successful Chinese designers, is influence more young people to know about artistic craftsmanship, respect it, and pass it down to the next generation..

Have you ever considered moving parts of your production outside China in response to global perceptions and market challenges?

Yeah, I did think about it. It’s quite challenging, especially for the American market. Some customers, if they see everything made in China, they don’t order. And also with the American tax rules, they add extra tax, so a jacket can go from five hundred to nine hundred euro. So some buyers say, “Oh, not made in China,” because of the tax.

It’s not really about quality, the quality in China is still great — it’s more a political rule. And it’s not just me, a lot of brands produce in China and have the same problem. Generally, I think made in China is the future. People there make really beautiful products, it’s just different levels. But it’s everywhere. You’ve got different prices, you’ve got different quality. It’s really about the brand positioning.

Of course, as Feng Chen Wang grows, we may separate some production. But now our materials already come from everywhere, Italy, Japan, China, UK, so it’s very multicultural. It’s not just one country, we are including all the places, which is very nice.

How does your heritage shape the design process at Feng Chen Wang? and how do you continue to develop new concepts each season?

It’s quite challenging because every six months you need a new idea, and as a designer it’s very tiring. But we have our DNA product like our outerwear jacket, it’s our core piece and it sells really well. Every season we develop new techniques, like different denim washs all hand-made. It’s just in a cool way, and I love it. The inspiration behind every collection comes from modern life but also from Chinese craftsmanship. The techniques are traditional, but the cutting, shaping, and silhouette are very modern and futuristic, so international people can also wear it. Most of the inspiration is connected to my roots, but I also have a very international view, so I mix and combine both together.

Which pieces are you most proud of this season?

I think one is the denim jacket. It’s very cool. I use tea tie-dye for the first layer, a natural plant dye, then a chemical dye on top, and a third layer of wax. It’s a really interesting process and it’s all done by hand. This season we talk about two forces, like perfection and imperfection, two different things coming together. So this piece really shows that. I’m also very proud of the tailoring pieces. They’re more elegant, with nice materials, but with a lot of small details, like using men’s trouser pockets and waist details on the jacket. It’s very much about mixing destruction and elegance, soft and strong, like yin and yang, everything combined together.

One of the show’s most memorable moments was the dogs on the runway. What did they represent?

I think it’s about the animalistic side of humans, but also about balance. I’m a dog person, and I was thinking about how human and dogs can come together in a balanced way. Nowadays lifestyle is very extreme sometimes, and people always have two sides, your inner self and outer self. At home you can be quiet, outside you can be loud. You can be crazy and go to the nightclub, and then go home and calm down again.

Everyone has different phases — happy or sad. So the dogs on the runway were really about these two sides coming together, finding balance, like yin and yang. In this challenging world, I think we all need more balance and peaceful coming together.

How has the Paris audience responded to Feng Chen Wang since you began showing here three years ago?

I think we are slowly, slowly opening the French audience. This season is a good feedback, and people start knowing us more. Before, a lot of people maybe heard about the brand, but they didn’t really see the collection yet, because we didn’t have many shoppers here. So they didn’t fully understand. Now I think showing in Paris is a good opportunity to really start things, to let people see the work and connect with it. 

How big is the team behind Feng Chen Wang today?

Our team currently consists of thirty-two people, including myself.