Dingyun Zhang's "SCAR:city" Collection Is Anything But Scarce of Innovation
The Shanghai designer has touched down in Paris to present his latest supernatural fashion manifesto, which includes a footwear collaboration with Crocs.
Everything Dingyun Zhang makes is inspired by his own childhood relics — whether those be his old G.I. Joe figures, the playthings in McDonald’s Happy Meals, his favorite Dragon Ball Z characters, or his basketball trading cards, the Shanghai-based designer’s practice is a factory for satisfying his younger mind through the lens of otherworldly fashion.
Today, Zhang is in Paris, opening a showroom with Crocs to reveal his latest collection, titled “SCAR:city,” alongside a footwear collaboration with the famous clog purveyor. Under vivid changing lights in a gargantuan studio, the designer’s presentation centers around a faux pool of water, meant to represent the idea of success. His 16 designs are each billed as individual characters, positioned on mannequins reaching for the water in poses inspired by Zhang’s, you guessed it, childhood favorites: two figures are hung from metal bars, flying above the pool like Spirited Away‘s Chihiro and Haku, while others assume powerful fighting stances modeled after Dragon Ball Z‘s Son Goku and more drrible like NBA players, among other references.
In each stance, the collection’s characters materialize Zhang’s message: “We all might be shooting at the same goal of success, but we’re going to get there differently,” he explains. “There’s no right or wrong, and there’s actually more similarities than differences among us. We all strive for a common goal, but navigating the scarcity on that path can pose challenges. This is a freeze-frame in that process, and I’m looking at all of the different personalities involved.”
Zhang’s characters are all protagonists in their own journies, but they’re united by his extraterrestrial signatures. The designer’s classic Helmut Bag, for instance, evolves in headwear, with many mannequins donning spiked and wormy hats, as well as masks featuring bug-eyed lenses. A bomber jacket boasts ultra-voluminous sleeves; a light-green nylon coat conceals the entire body with waterproofing; a sherpa-collared puffer, styled with a stiff grey scarf, is inflated to the nth degree and a hooded black leather jacket zips all the way up to hide its wearer’s face with an evil mask. Zhang’s design world is completely out of this one.
He calls out a specific hero piece: an exceptionally functional jacket with enough velcro pockets and zip pouches across the entire body to replace the need for a suitcase. “This piece is almost like an astronaut,” Zhang says, demonstrating how to flick open the sturdy pockets on the chest. “The reference was this zombie-astronaut hybrid figure I had as a kid with crazy long arms, which is why the length of the sleeves is particularly dramatic.”
On foot, the undead space cadet wears Zhang’s Crocs collaboration: the Diffuser. Coming in white, the contoured design is right in line with the footwear giant’s signatures, with quiet elevations from Zhang’s studio. “I looked at aerodynamic sports cars, and I turned them into a wearable shoe. Instead of doing the typical straight-cut hole, I perforated the silhouette at an angle.” The resulting holes do, in fact, resemble a sports car’s exhaust pipe.
Everyone’s path to success is riddled with shares of trials and tribulations, but it’s clear that Zhang’s is anything but scarce of explosive creativity and innovation.
The Dingyun Zhang x Crocs collaboration will launch in December via Crocs and Dingyun Zhang’s webstores. Take a look at the presentation in the gallery above.
