It’s Shanghai Fashion Week and designers out there are popping off. There’s a different kind of creativity brewing in East Asia. Ahead of the SHUSHU/TONG show yesterday, we had the pleasure of chatting with Liushu Lei, aka Shushu, one half of the designer duo behind the brand.
The girly, anime- and nostalgia-inspired brand often takes inspiration from cinema, and this year was no different. The SS25 collection, named “The Pleasure of Rejection”, was based on the French psychological drama The Piano Teacher, and its protagonist, Erika Kohut – a piano teacher who has an affair with her student. “We were deeply fascinated by the film’s exploration of a complex and unusual intimate relationship,” Shushu said. “The emotional tone of this collection is one of restraint and introspection, with some details reflecting a more mature sensibility compared to past seasons.”
With this collection, the designers wanted to keep exploring the diversity of femininity and different female experiences: “Erika Kohut is such a complex female character – sensitive, conflicted, even mad. Beneath her restrained and reserved exterior lies desperation and chaos, with emotions that rage like a storm. What captivates me most about her is her ability to express exactly what she desires, even when her desires are extreme or irrational,” Shushu said. And you could really see that in the collection of dainty, textured silhouettes, layered structures and bright pops of colour. The collection played with the concepts of pleasure and rejection, all from Erika’s perspective. “In [Erika’s] mind, the lines between attraction and rejection seem to blur, creating a chaotic unity. This dynamic felt like a deconstruction of the binary between the two concepts, offering immense dramatic tension.”
But it wasn’t all serious. SHUSHU/TONG always embeds a cutesy, girlhood vibe to their aesthetic, for that “passionate, romantic and playful” girl that the designers envision wearing their pieces, and this season wasn’t different. “Bows remain a key element,” Shushu said, “they’ve always been central to our brand’s DNA.” There was also a lot more colour, going against the black, white and grey that SHUSHU/TONG is usually known for: “the colour palette this season is particularly rich, with many surprising and unexpected combinations,” he said. Mints, burgundies, khakis, yellows and pinks are present, as well as checks, glossy polka-dots, and lily motifs in prints and delicate embroidery, bringing a freshness to the collection. SS25 featured delicate textures such as lace, reflecting Erika’s vulnerability, knits that pay homage to her film costumes, and nude stockings that give off that “old-fashioned sensuality” within the film.
This season also included more day-to-day, casual staples. “I wanted to create one or two more casual and everyday pieces – something that I could personally wear,” Shushu explained. “I marked this down very early on in the mood board. We’ve added an oversized sweatshirt and a casual jacket. I’m really excited that we’ve finally made looks that I can also see myself wearing.”
And we need to chat about the accessories – which continued the ongoing collaboration with jewellery designer YVMIN –this time playing around with ceramics. “The collection features some signature elements like bows, along with roses and doves,” Shushu said. The delicate quality of the ceramics was the perfect material to mirror the themes of the collection – “restraint, sensitivity and fragility”.
SS25 was a compelling collection that showcased SHUSHU/TONG’s fine craftsmanship and hardcore girly aesthetic, sticking to the brand’s ethos but also bringing a fresh, colourful take that brought a very specific theme that saved the brand from being repetitive.
Images SHUSHU/TONG©
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