“I wanted to put together a collection that creates the landscape of a city after a rainy day.” So said CPlus Series’s C.T. Liu backstage after his spring 2024 runway show. The Taiwanese designer launched his label in 2018 at New York Fashion Week. He studied film prior to turning his eye onto fashion, which explains his cinematic approach at conceptualizing his collections, though what’s most alluring about his work is the modernity of his deft technical hand.
There is a deeply embedded sense of urbanism to CPlus Series. Liu’s clothes are made to be worn on the street, and look markedly better in motion than they do on screen. This season’s look, he explained, was about conveying the feeling of coming home from work after a long day. “You go to work, and when you go home your clothes might have gotten dirty or gotten a little wrinkled,” he said, “but you still look confident, and you still look good.”
The idea of spontaneity and a “lived-in” feel were the grounding principles here, and they were best evoked by Liu’s keen eye for fabrics, which he chose to best reproduce the effects of rain. Puddles, reflections, and wet stains translated into over-washed and acid-dyed denims, dip-dyed chiffons, carefully mottled boho laces, and worn-in leathers.
Liu cuts a cool cargo, and knows to style it with a draped lacy top, building the kind of look that will turn heads at a street crossing. A standout was the chiffon number in look 3, cut as a twisted suit jacket, lapels and all, and paired with a leather mini.
Denim is Liu’s strong suit, seen here on jeans with asymmetrical and slashed off waistbands, maxi skirts with oversized rips in lieu of slits, and a fantastic suit with a screen printed patina. Less compelling was Liu’s foray into menswear, which he attributed to his genderless POV on his clothes. There is a distinct confidence to his woman that did not carry over onto his men’s this time around. There’s potential though, just give him a cargo and a cool button-down or raw-edged denim blazer.
Not to be slept on, are Liu’s quirky but edgy evening propositions: A duo of gravity defying chiffon bodices with glistening skirts—one in silver sequins and the other with oversized paillettes—look like It-girl catnip.