Since founding his label in 2014, the London College of Fashion graduate has been amassing a loyal fanbase (204,000 Instagram followers and counting)—which includes Hollywood style icons from Priyanka Chopra Jonas to Lady Gaga—for his otherworldly designs. From suits with layered pleating in shocking hues as if plucked from a sci-fi movie (in fact, Wun once whipped up a look for a Hunger Games character to a figure-hugging column around which tufts of fabric swirl like fish gills, Wun’s work has beguiled audiences with its marriage of the fantastical and the natural, earning him the 2022 Andam Prix Spécial, the globally recognised French award won previously by the likes of Martin Margiela and Iris Van Herpen; and comparisons to legendary designer Lee McQueen.

But it is Cristobal Balenciaga who inspired Wun’s approach to couture. “[Balenciaga] challenged shapes and people didn’t understand his work at first because it wasn’t about a woman’s figure, it was about a silhouette that went against what wealthy women wanted to wear at the time,” Wun says. “Lots of talented people can do beautiful things, but what’s rare is having the audacity to challenge the idea of beauty.”

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Through this renegade lens, Wun looked back at black and white images of couturiers handling delicate fabrics with white gloves and decided to turn the practice on its head. What if, instead of being fearful of all the elements that might soil a piece of garment, he makes them the very centre of his designs? “This is all very nerve-racking; pretty much everything in this collection is something I’ve never done before, but I owe it to myself to push my limits,” he says, walking us through the 22 looks he envisions for his collection.

There’s a black raincoat dotted with Swarovski crystals imitating raindrops; a sombre suit accompanied by a pointed cup inspired by the lyrics “a coffee cup that won’t stand still” from a song by Twins, a beloved Hong Kong pop duo from the 2000s; a veiled ivory ensembled singed at the edges and dotted as if by cigarette burns. If each look feels like it could belong to a character from a retro-futuristic epic, that’s because Wun’s mind can’t help but invent movie scenes. In fact, he hopes he was movie director in another life. “A lot of images in my head are quite cinematic,” he says.

“For instance, the wine stain dress: I imagined a burgundy background with a drunk woman in a white dress making a scene with a glass of wine at a restaurant because her husband had just confessed to something horrible. The scene is chaotic but there’s beauty in it because of the emotion there.” One of his favourite looks is the “broken pearl” dress, taken directly from the scene in the latest Batman movie in which Bruce Wayne’s mother is shot and her pearl necklace shatters in slow motion. Wun and his team experimented with six or seven types of wire to recreate the effect. “In every industry, there are different levels of craft,” he says. “In the movies, you have blockbusters and you have indies, and haute couture is like James Cameron’s Avatar, where he went deep into every technical detail and character. Couture for me is about [checking] every stitch and button to make sure everything is perfect. That can never be outdated.” 

Wun’s most loved films provide hints at the way he approaches his own work. Citing Hayao Miyazaki and Denis Villeneuve’s masterpieces as his favourites, the choices suggest a futuristic outlook that never abandons the importance of humanity. “I think the best movies don’t give you what you want but what you need,” he says. “I was so emotional in the movie Arrival, because rather than another alien invasion showing humans fighting and winning—which I find reflects our own fears—Villeneuve shows a sophisticated alien race sharing their knowledge and getting humans to work together. I admire his bravery for making something so brutally honest about humanity’s flaws, and yet so beautifully human. He used his imagination—not history or reality—to talk about truths that everyone can relate to.”

Wun has been seen as a champion for greater diversity in fashion, not through political statements disseminated through press releases, but by the themes woven into his clothes, and the people he has dressed. “Just looking at our last collection, I’d say nine out of 10 of the press clippings show Black artists wearing my clothes,” he says. “But that was not intentional. I think there’s a certain type of woman who I design for and who is drawn to my work, whose power maybe comes from a certain pain and them overcoming that pain. And when they wear a Robert Wun look, they own it, they’re unapologetic about it, and they know they deserve it.”

It’s a journey Wun is familiar with. As a gay, Asian man, Wun had never truly found a home for his talent growing up in Hong Kong, where he was raised by his mother and late grandmother, and whose strength and values continue to inspire his work—the swallowtail pleats, now a signature of his designs and one that will also filter into the couture collection, were derived from his grandmother’s favourite bird from China’s Hainan Island. In the early days of his career in London, Wun faced more than a few rejections as he chafed against a rigid fashion system that wished to put him neatly in a box. “I was either too Asian or not Asian enough,” he bemoaned. “But now I hope my clothes speak for themselves.”

Alongside his family, the front row of his debut show of just 150 honoured guests saw his greatest supporters, from renowned stylist Law Roach, who is responsible for Zendaya’s head-turning red carpet looks to Tibetan model-musician Tsunaina, cheering him on. “I’m a proud Asian, but since I was little, I never said I wanted to be the best designer from Hong Kong or the best Chinese designer. I’m here to be the best designer, period; to be at the level of the people I admire.”
 
A resolute look flashes across his face. That “fear” is the theme of his debut couture collection suddenly feels obvious: not for its debilitating power, but for the beauty that lies on the other side once you’ve overcome it.
 
“I hope that for people who consider themselves outsiders—be it due to their class or culture—this can show them that times are changing, and that if you work hard enough and know who you are, there is a place for you.”

Read more from Tatler's March edition featuring more exclusive images from the show

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