Wooyoungmi Men's & Women's Fall 2021 Paris

Nostalgia for unspoiled nature inspired this outdoorsy fall lineup for Wooyoungmi Men’s & Women’s Fall 2021 Paris.

A yearning for unspoiled nature was the starting point for Wooyoungmi’s fall collection.

“Like any other person, I’ve become increasingly more concerned by the environment. But after reading ‘The Memory’ by Bernard Werber, where the protagonists go back in the past and explore nature, and then ‘Forgotten Beasts’ from American illustrator Matt Sewell, I felt really conscious of [our impact] on nature,” creative director Woo Young Mi said.

Her way of expressing that concern was equipping her coed lineup with gear to face the elements. She revisited mainstays of the outdoor wardrobe, drawing them from a range of eras, going from tailored wool overcoats and ascetic field jackets to quilted corduroy puffer vests and winter sports gear. Earthy browns, muted greens, russet and a handful of fiery oranges and reds were a reference to nature itself, while the organic curves of soles made hiking boots look futuristic, in a nod to the time-traveling protagonists of Werber’s book.

Among the standouts were checkerboard-pattered denim pieces, boxy cropped leather jackets, thick marled knitwear in bright hues, very 1990s overshirts and a puffer jacket in a wool so hairy it mimicked shearling. The tailoring, always a Wooyoungmi strong suit, was well represented.

Most looks followed the brand’s genderless intentions, save for buttoning differences, a handful of skorts and a nylon skirt suit. Clever details made the garments memorable, such as clasps placed on the sleeves for width adjustment, the square construction of a collar line or webbing that secured the armhole of a puffer vest for warmth.