Angus Chiang

The 1980s Taiwanese traditional family hair salons, neighborhood hair stylists, the thoughtful quick services of barbers, or even the quiet swirling of the familiar red, white, and blue of the barber pole did not merely signify a place to receive professional haircuts, perms, styling and ear cleaning services, more importantly, these were centers of socializing and communication. Today's demands for convenience, speed, and low prices have replaced the old fashioned craftsmanship of these forgotten days. Though skill sets may not have changed, the services of salons today lack the relaxed, caring service that made people feel at home and heard.

ANGUS CHIANG's AW2022 collection is rooted in the retro, genuine spirit found in the golden age of traditional family hair salons—a true callback to each and every one of the seemingly lost traditions of the past. This collection has twisted the fonts and saturated colorful advertisements associated with hair salons, barber shops, and hair dressers into a fantastic visual callback. Among these visuals, perhaps the most important is the barber pole, which is alluded to by using bright red, sapphire blue, and warm white as base colors for this new season's line. Complementing these are bright yellows, neon colors, and saturated greens with embellishments of purple and orange.

In terms of fabric for the fall/winter season, this collection used ANGUS CHIANG's familiar heavy-weight Ponte Roma and multicolored striped fabrics, and introduced special printing techniques such as steel plate, silkscreen, and puff screen printing on heavy fleece, four-color weaved berber fleece, man-made textured and glossy leather, and embellishments using sparkly, iridescent fabric. In addition, the collection includes down jackets combining jacquard and fleece as well as sweaters with innovative prints and patchworks. The garment accessories in the collection include metal blade-shaped pendants, metal round teeth zippers, extra-large eyelets, and yarn-dyed straps.

The collection is inspired by the full wardrobe of the hairdresser, everything from everyday clothes sported at home to uniforms donned in salons. Each detail is a well-styled nod to the distinctive features of this clothing, including the traditional three pockets of the stylist's apron, the stylist's ubiquitous tool belt, the salon cart, and even salon towels. These have been playfully transformed by ANGUS CHIANG into features such as TPU patches inspired by combs, laminated leather that carries hints to various hair styles, and even a bonus hair clip.