RANFAN - Runway - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2015NEW YORK, Feb 21, 2015/ — A new name on the New York fashion calendar, Chinese designer Ran Fan wowed the Big Apple’s fashion set with her effervescent Fall 2015 collection inspired by a night market in Chiang Mai, the largest city in Northern Thailand.

With Chiang Mai’s kaleidoscopic of spices and delicacies, street crafts and tranquil tropical plants as the muse, Ran Fan created an uplifting palette and materials, as well as tailoring techniques that defy convention.

High quality natural fabrics in vibrant shades of orange, olive, pink, red and even grey became the new currency of luxe looks. Extravagant wool and other opulent materials became the center of Fan’s artistry.

From the use of laser-cut silk and lambskin in her previous collections to this season’s sophisticated and architectural treatment of reconstructed wool and other fabrics are artfully blended in sensational grandeur.

A graduate of London’s Central Saint Martins, Ran Fan is also the fourth Mercedes-Benz China Designer Award winner. And, from what she showed at Lincoln Center on February 15th, she is worth the accolade.

[MARI DAVIS]
Photos courtesy of Ran Fan