The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2025 - Issue 37

bitefashion backs, and overlapping panels resembling stacked paper. There was a noticeable shift toward sharper, more architectural forms, softened by subtle nods to Renaissance romanticism. Cross-over Sweaters with names like Expectation, Fantasy, and Forturness evoked a different emotional state or philosophical inquiry. Deconstructed tops with back cutouts and layered lapels referenced the act of ‘opening up’. Artist collaboration t-shirts with titles like Negligible Myself and Cat’s Lost & Found added a playful yet existential edge. In an interview, Kuo Wei described ‘Existence’ as a summary of INF’s psycho- logical and creative state, engaging a moment of reflection after a decade of design. In Taiwanese, Kî-Tó means ‘to pray’ or ‘to bless’. INF titled its SS23 collection with this word, drawing inspiration from the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival. The 137-year-old ritual, rooted in Tainan’s history, sets fireworks to ward off disease and misfortune. Wei reimagined these fireworks as a metaphor for transformation and release. The show was staged at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and featured a nearly 10-metre-long art installation created in collaboration with the visual art team Hellobastworkshop. For its AW23 ‘Ama’ collection, INF transformed the runway at Taipei’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park into a giant deep-sea aquarium. With wave projections, dim lighting, and immersive soundscapes, the audience was submerged in a sensory experience. Ama is the name for Taiwan’s coastal sea women, who have harvested seafood without modern equip- ment for generations, relying on breath-hold diving and an intimate relationship with the sea. The garments echoed the textures and silhouettes of the ocean with wave-like hems, pleated ripples, and fluid draping that mimicked tides and currents. Swimsuit-inspired layering and strapped constructions referenced the Ama’s traditional diving gear. A standout knit sweater modelled after the insulated headgear worn by divers reimagined the brand’s signature deconstructed flair. It also incorporated marine debris, such as bottle caps and plastic bags, into hair styling and accessories. INF paid homage to Taiwan’s disappearing tradition of com- munal roadside banquets through its SS24 ‘Ban-Doh’ collec- tion. These gatherings once brought entire neighbourhoods together under striped tents with red plastic chairs, round ta- bles, and endless dishes, celebrating everything from weddings to temple festivals. The brand marked this event with pixelated prints of round tables and lanterns, dot-matrix motifs echoing retro signage, and silhouettes inspired by banquet chefs and serves’ uniforms. Kabukimono were flamboyant and eccentric samurai groups during Japan’s late Sengoku and early Edo periods. The AW24 collection drew from their legacy, blending Kabuki theatre aesthetics, Japanese folklore such as Tsuru no Ongaeshi (The