By Louise Daniel
Expectations for a Robert Wun couture show are always beyond unsurprising, given the Chinese couturier’s juggernaut reputation in the industry. A Wun couture presentation resists simplification; its depth, emotional complexity, and ability to provoke catharsis defy singular interpretation. In the previous season, Wun examined the concept of time—from its intimate entanglement with human life to its unfathomable cosmic scale. However, this season, he turned the question inward: to explore the abyss of being, that hauntingly beautiful and bizarre act of existence that shadows humankind at every turn.
His most enigmatic and surreal collection to date, Robert Wun’s Fall 2025 introduced what can only be described as existential couture—a haunting meditation on the question of clothing itself. Why do we wear clothes in the ways we do? Why is the ritualized act of dressing so profound yet so mundane? How do garments come to haunt our dreams, our identities, our realities?
A Poignant Exploration of Couture's Dark Side
Staged in the historic Théâtre du Châtelet, the show unfolded like a surrealist opera. It allowed the audience to shed the external world and enter the hushed, cinematic void of Wun’s inner universe. From the outset, it was clear: this would not be a light affair. It was designed to be a transformative immersion into the macabre. The opening look—a voluminous white gown resembling a bloodstained duvet, encrusted with thousands of red crystals—was an arresting study in violence and vulnerability. At once shocking and sublime, it embodied Wun’s signature tension: beauty found in the unsettling.
But in true Robert Wun fashion, the show never leaned into spectacle for its own sake. His commitment to the language of haute couture—structured silhouettes, hand-applied embellishments, and impossibly intricate detailing—grounded even the most haunting ideas in undeniable craft. Each look moved with slow, spectral grace. As the models appeared like apparitions—draped in deconstructed tailoring, elongated appendages, and veiled faces—we were pulled deeper into a psychological descent. A fashion séance where garments floated between sacred relic and wearable hallucination.
Desirability in the Bizarre
Wun has long championed the idea that couture does not need to conform to preconceived notions of beauty—and Fall 2025 was a revolution in that very thought. A total of twenty-five looks challenged the idea of desirability as something static or simplistic. Front-row guests including Heart Evangelista, Gigi Goode, Wisdom Kaye, and James Goldstein bore witness to a collection that made the bizarre irresistible.
Silhouettes twisted the codes of couture into new dimensions. The proportions of evening gowns were manipulated with calculated disorder—some ballooning into near-surreal volume, others collapsing into minimalist sculpture. Tuxedo bags became absurdist extensions of the body, crystal embroidery morphed into skin-like scabs, and sleeve structures protruded like limbs from a dream (or a nightmare).
Each choice—down to the last fabric or shard of crystal—was clearly deliberate. Wun played with the very edge of refinement and chaos, inviting viewers to question not only the look, but the function, memory, and mythology of clothing itself. And as expected, the pièce de résistance was a beige monochrome bridal look with a looming human sculpture found on the model’s head that defied all bridal tropes–it was eerie, transcendent, and sculptural.
A Continuity of Wun's Universe
Though this collection may feel like Wun’s most abstract to date, it is deeply rooted in continuity. It is a culmination of the themes he has been weaving for seasons—identity, memory, transformation. One can trace echoes from past collections, nods to his ongoing couture language. And that, perhaps, is the most revolutionary thing: that couture can be less fleeting, less ephemeral. It can leave an indelible mark if its innovation is anchored in a reverence for history, a respect for craftsmanship, and a designer’s singular vision.
Robert Wun’s Fall 2025 is an existential thesis. A haunted opera of cloth and consciousness. Wun continues to solidify his place as one of the most compelling, trusted voices in contemporary fashion.
