Beijing-based brand MARRKNULL presented the Fall Winter 2022.23 Womenswear Collection with a fashion film during the London Fashion Week. For this season, brand was inspired by home and how the home items can integrate into clothes. The collection especially pays attention to 90s Chinese home decorations. Metal rivets shaped as remote control buttons embellished denim and leather looks, a plastic wash basin is turned into an installation dress, the iconic hanger bags are re-invented with new shapes and are shown hanging on a giant hanger. The research and application of “contemporary Chinese elements” has always been in the DNA of the brand.
FALL WINTER 2022.23 COLLECTIONS
DSCENE Fashion Director Katarina Djoric sits down with designer Wang Wei to talk about the new collection, history behind brand’s name, adapting to social media and future plans.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background, and how you came to launch MARRKNULL?
I come from a small town in south China. I started to study clothing after I entered Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology in 2013. I met my partner Shi Tian 2015, who was studying architecture in Central Academy of Fine Arts at that time. Then we launched MARRKNULL together in 2016.
When and how did your love of fashion begin?
My Mom is the teacher of fashion for me lol.
What’s behind the name MARRKNULL?
Because everyone called me MARK except Wei Wang, this name could not be registered in China at that time, so we added a NULL after it.
Describe your design process from conception to realization.
Before the start of each season, Tim Shi and I (Wei Wang) will discuss together the feeling that we want to present in the new series, the vision we want to express, so as to discuss the theme of the new season together. In the design process, as a graduate of architecture, Tim Shi will focus more on the study of structural version, and I (Wei Wang) will focus more on the element transformation and silhouette details extended from inspiration. In the process of continuous discussion, the two are merged, and finally a complete series is presented.
You are based in Beijing, how does the city influence your work?
I have been living in Beijing since I was in college. It is not a fashionable city. Beijing gives me a feeling that people are relaxed and real, and we can do our design in a quiet way.
With the Internet and social media, everything moves so fast and the way people consume
fashion has totally changed. How does MARRKNULL adapt to this environment?
Internet will let more people around the world see us, but the impact is that people care more about the visual impact, we can keep creating good products, and do a good job of concept output.
Tell us about your new collection.
MARRKNULL FW2022 inspired by the scene of “home”, which combines the things at home with clothes for redesign, and gives emotion and consciousness to the objects, forming a MARRKNULL family landscape. We customize multiple identities for one girl, Mother, lover, children, sisters, pets – the switching of different identities constructs an unconstrained and diverse female image of MARRKNULL without age and style boundaries.
What is the inspiration?
All about home.
What are the key pieces?
The household wood grain leather suit. (first picture)
What’s next for MARRKNULL?
We will move our studio from Beijing to Shanghai. I was deeply impressed by the difference between the two cities, so the next collection will be about the city.
Discover all the collection looks:
