Layered jackets and orchid prints evoke oriental style, a perfect blend of tradition and innovation.
Article by Marco Lorè
Past and present intertwine, creating together a new future in the upcoming S/S collection of KB HONG, presented for the fifth consecutive year at Milan Fashion Week. The proposal, from the Chinese brand, highlights elegance and poetry, which through the eyes of a man with a gentle soul, harmoniously observes the passage of time.
The KB HONG man is indeed an observer, proud and aware of his experiences and traditions but fascinated and intrigued by the future.
He is able to explore different attitudes, find new inspirations, while always staying true to his essence.
His experiments strengthen his being, his identity, like when he takes up the elegant traditional codes of oriental costume and revisits them in looks with a western taste. Thus, the iconic asymmetric lapels, with particular overlaps and unusual constructions, become the new layered jackets that evoke oriental style, to be paired with wide trousers, sometimes real skirts with panels inspired by ancient costumes of the imperial warriors of the Han dynasty.
Oriental elegance blends naturally with Western elegance even in outerwear, which features topstitched edges like belts, oversized volumes, and comfortable fits.
Wool, silk, but also beaten cotton or technical fibers mixed with natural ones give shine to the garments, enhanced by unusual graphics or combinations: the blazer has the back of a shirt, the shirt itself is printed all over with a large placed floral design, and the floral jacquards fade like abstract canvases.
An idea of purity and nobility is exalted by orchids sketched like drafts on white canvases and by mythological birds with large wings represented among prints and precious jacquards, in tones of black and jade green, black with amber yellow, ivory colors, and warm touches of beige, coral pink, up to shades of ruby.
Architectural details, frames, and craftsmanship borrowed from ancient oriental constructions help convey a reassuring sense of freedom, rooted in the past to live in the present and imagine, together, a new future.
The oriental aesthetic of KB HONG has just debuted at the 106th edition of Pitti Uomo - held in Florence from June 11 to 14 - where it presented two different collections, FW 24/25 and SS25, characterized by its oriental aesthetic reinterpreted in a contemporary key and translated into agile and urban ready-to-wear.
K-BOXING, founded in 1980, is the leading brand in China for men's business-casual clothing. In 2024, the brand's value reached 103.835 billion yuan, making it the most important men's clothing brand in China for the 21st consecutive year.
In recent years, K-BOXING has gained international visibility, telling the story of China on runways around the world and integrating oriental artistic aesthetics into a contemporary luxury brand.
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