Following a period of recession—and with the challenging retail climate more broadly—the past year has tumultuous for pretty much every independent brand in London. And while Eudon Choi has been better placed than most to manage, with a healthy direct-to-consumer business and a significant customer base in the Middle East and Asia, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t felt some of those tremors.
Yet while he initially felt disheartened by these tectonic movements in the British fashion industry, it eventually brought him a kind of clarity: a feeling that was in full evidence across his pre-fall collection, which saw him pare things back to the Choi essentials, relying on fewer looks and a sharp concision to outfit his customer. “Over the years, I’ve always been asked, ‘Who’s your woman?’” Choi said, leafing through the racks of clothing at his showroom. “I’ve always refused, for the past 15 years, to define my woman, because it’s never been about age or profile or lifestyle—it’s always been about the wearer’s attitude.” While Choi’s designs have often been pigeonholed as “for the working woman”—in no small part due to their day-to-night versatility and clever ability to be customized on the fly—he’s been thinking about a more holistic vision of who his customer is.
Choi’s wardrobe building blocks—off-kilter tailoring, breezy shirting, maxi dresses, great pants—were all present, but often assembled in more unexpected configurations: what at first appeared to be a double-collared shirt fell away at the shoulders to reveal it’s actually a two-piece halter top, while a khaki safari top with a cocoon silhouette could be ruched to serve as a jacket or a skirt, and comes with a matching combat-pocket skirt. Choi compared this line of thinking to designing modular furniture, considering how each element of a look could be slotted together or pulled apart depending on the wearer’s mood. (An especially compelling proposition was a white button down with long tendrils of fabric that could be tied around the back to wear at the office, but just as easily tied up at the front below the bust to throw over a bikini on the beach.) And if you need more proof that Choi is feeling positive right now, look at those colors: that lime green maxi dress decorated with cascading ruffles of fabric couldn’t be more joyously summer-ready if it tried.