Ziggy Chen approaches Spring Summer 2026 with PRITRIKE, a collection shaped by the push of primal energy and the quiet charge of natural forces. The name itself, drawn from “Primal” and “Strike,” suggests a tension, an origin point that holds strength without force. Chen turns to nature, not in idealized form, but as something slow, weathered, and charged with persistent life.
The Jiangnan region, known for its humid summers and constant, soft rainfall, sets the tone. That atmosphere guides the collection’s pace and mood. Garments feel unhurried, soft, and worn with ease. Chen builds pieces for presence. The clothes fall into place gently, shaped by instinct but refined through skill.
Materials carry that energy first. Natural fibres, hemp, silk, cotton, linen, form the foundation. Treatments such as garment dyeing and gold bonding shift the surfaces, changing rough textures into soft ones while keeping their character intact. The tension between rawness and softness stays present.
Chen chooses to work with a color range that mirrors natural decay and elemental contrast. Black opens the palette: dense, grounding, and primary. Dirty white stands opposite, worn and fogged with use. Between these poles, the collection draws on time’s effect on surface: chipped paint, faded wallpaper, worn concrete, rusted metal. Each tone feels altered, touched by weather or water.
Surfaces tell their own stories. PRITRIKE introduces prints that recall the effect of rain, the slow alteration of matter over time. Patterns draw from summer walls soaked with water, marked by raindrops and ink. These shapes arrive through exposure. Time and weather leave their mark. Chen observes that process and recreates it as evidence.
The silhouettes stay close to the skin without clinging. They move easily, designed to follow the body without directing it. Comfort doesn’t compete with form. They hold a kind of still pressure, like summer air thick with rain and growth. Every fold, every line, lets the fabric do the work.
With SS26, Chen continues to design from instinct, but this season moves with even more quiet. PRITRIKE absorbs light, holds warmth, and resists excess. Like a rain-soaked wall left to dry, it stays still, yet it changes everything around it.
