Chet Lo SS24 Experiments With Chinese Erotica
The designer reflected on his repressed childhood sexuality, honoring his heritage through daring graphics and sensual silhouettes.
Asian-American designer Chet Lo is expanding onto seductive grounds for Spring/Summer 2024, looking to elevate his signature style while staying true to himself. The designer’s London Fashion Week runway was submerged in sensual allure, igniting The Old Selfridges Hotel in moody red tones.
Lo’s SS24 collection was grounded in intense sexual desires, seeing him reflect on his repressed childhood and cultural identity. The designer never felt like he fit in with his peers, growing up in a digital world that looked down on non-white cultures. Lo grew into himself this season, flicking the pages to a new chapter for his namesake label.
The collection was undeniably seductive, seeing bold pockets of skin revealed across daring co-ed looks. An ethereal identity hoped from look to look, opening the show with thumping music, snaked hair ornamentation, and futuristic silhouettes. Lo embraced his Chinese heritage through explicit artwork mirrored on leather motorcycle jackets and knitted skirts with kissing figures. Japanese Shibari ropes were suggestively looped around necks and arms, knotted beneath star-carved suiting and three-dimensional dresses.
Lo’s trademark peaked knitwear saw new interpretations this season, unveiling soft peaks grounded in subtlety. Smaller versions decorated slim-fit tank tops, sheer long-sleeves, and swim-ready speedos, while sharp varieties popped from relaxed crewnecks and textured hoodies.
Speaking exclusively to Hypebeast on the collection, Chet Lo says:
“This season, I looked a lot at my queer sexuality and the ideas of sexuality in Asian culture. There are references to Shibari, Shunga, as well as Ancient Chinese Erotic art. Essentially, as a Chinese-American gay man, I’ve experienced countless racist situations in my dating history, where people will specify “no asians” or etc. I grew up wishing I fit into the white standard of beauty and never saw an appreciation of Asian beauty reflected in porn unless it was extremely fetishised. So for this collection, I really wanted to celebrate everything surrounding Asian sexuality and to communicate that we are beautiful, more than a fetish, and should not be self-conscience that we don’t fit into this masc, mustachio-ed, white-centric idea of beauty . At Least that’s how it was for me, so I just basically used this collection as an outlet.
We started designing the collection with looking at beautiful references to porn, shunga, and Chinese erotic art. We then translated this into a print that was more subtle so that from up close, the print was just random shapes, but then from afar the image is revealed. This idea of shibari then translated in to multiple garments with ties as well as chinese knot ties to create the idea of wrapping around the body. Additionally, we played with our knits as well to create a lace print that showed the print. It was really really fun, but my laptop is now full of NSFW images so it’s a little scary haha.
This season, we experimented with the spikes in a softer and more lustrous yarn to create a more comfortable feel, but with our other techniques, we played with devore to create a sheer and silky texture in one fabric, as well as a lace knit that offers a beautiful print alongside a body conscience visual that enhances the natural curves of the body. We’ve worked really hard to elevate the garments to feel luxurious and cool at the same time and really hope that you guys love it!
I’m so excited to show with NEWGEN again! I love the British Fashion Council and are so appreciative of their support. I count my blessings as we really wouldn’t be able to create these collections without their guidance and support.”
Take a closer look at Chet Lo’s SS24 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned for more London Fashion Week coverage on Hypebeast.
Elsewhere, Daniel Lee envisions Burberry’s limitless future for Summer 2024.
