The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2025 - Issue 38

bitecatwalk C het Lo’s AW25 collection, ‘Modern Antiquity’, arrives with a force that’s impossible to over- look. At first glance, this isn’t another dalliance with Asian-inspired motifs, but Lo reclaiming the narrative. A deliberate inversion of the Western gaze that has long distorted and commodified Asian art, the collection responds not with subtle symbolism but with sculptural boldness. What makes ‘Modern Antiquity’ compelling is its refusal to indulge nostalgia. Lo draws from tropes often misrepresented such as clouds, tigers, ‘exoticised’ imagery but refuses to treat them as relics. Instead, he dismantles clichés and rebuilds them into something electric. Tiger stripes erupt on the fabric, rather than sit quietly. Cloud patterns explode into petals, fractals, and dimensional textures that feel entirely new. A transformation that lets cultural icons breathe, evolve, and finally speak for themselves. The technical, tactile, unapologetically intricate crafts- manship is unmistakably Lo’s. Merino wool spikes return with sharper precision, woven pleats create ten- sion and release across silhouettes, and plush knitting becomes soft yet architectural sculptural. Dualities of fragility and force, past and future, tradition and rebellion run throughout. It’s fashion that thinks and moves. Most striking is how clearly the collection speaks from Lo’s identity. Instead of borrowing symbols, he’s re- claiming them, reshaping them on his own terms. The references are sharp, modern, and edged with attitude. Florals feel alive, less archival sketches, more bursts of energy on the runway. Motifs echo culture retold, not borrowed. Collaborations amplify rather than distract. Converse debuts a sneaker that extends Lo’s sculptural approach to texture. Kate Somerville’s skincare direction leaves models luminous, almost ethereal. Commando’s seam- less undergarments allow silhouettes to breathe, while Authentic Beauty Concept sculpts hair into soft, archi- tectural forms that mirror the garments’ movement. What endures after ‘Modern Antiquity’ is its con- fidence. Whilst designing clothes, Lo edits history, turning chinoiserie, once used to flatten and exoti- cise, into a vital, contemporary expression of Asian artistry. This reclamation is executed with intelligence, elegance, and a sharp creative edge. The collection is a statement, a challenge, and an invitation delivered through fabric, form, and fearless reinterpretation. It’s Chet Lo at his most thoughtful, most experimental, and perhaps his most essential. https://www.chetlo.com CHET LO FASHION WEEK LONDON Autumn/Winter 2025