San Francisco Frontiers - Hong Kong's Robert Wun: the bold Millennial conquering Haute Couture

In a short space of time, the 34-year-old has rocketed from unknown to one of the most sought-after fashion names, designing for everyone from Lady Gaga to rapper Cardi B, who sat front row at his latest show on Wednesday in Paris.

"I have some days off, sometimes," he told AFP with a smile, while admitting to being "quite exhausted mentally and physically because I haven't had a break for two and a half years."

"It's something I always wanted, so that's why I seldom complain about it."

Working with his team and models again ahead of presenting his latest collection, Wun appeared relaxed and good humoured, a man at ease with the success that wasn't obvious for someone from his background.

His mother worked in insurance and his father in electric cabling, while the conservative Hong Kong boys' school he attended was a hostile place for creative teenagers like him.

"That's where my stubbornness came in, because I was getting bullied a lot. I managed to still stick with what I truly wanted to do, or how I wanted to do things, or how I want to express myself," he explained.

He found his calling -- and other kindred spirits -- studying at the London College of Fashion, going on to make the British capital his permanent home.

He now lives in Hackney in east London, with his 12-person studio in Dalston producing two or three made-to-measure outfits a month for red carpet events, galas or weddings.

Wun was possibly the busiest couturier at this year's Met Gala in New York, dressing eight people, including K-pop star Lisa, couture collector Jordan Roth and Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka.

Asked by AFP what she admired about Wun, Cardi B said "everything".

"The creativity, the colours ... It's really the quality," added the New Yorker, who was one of the earliest adopters of Wun's designs after his breakout collection in 2021.

The "I Want It" singer sat next to Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, underlining how Wun's popularity straddles East and West.

- Horror influences -

Fascinated by the natural world and heavily influenced by film, the British-Chinese designer produces work that is widely described as bold, futuristic and sculptural.

It can often feel dark and claustrophobic too, incorporating influences from horror movies, leading some to see him as the fashion world's Millennial interpreter of the anxiety-filled 2020s.

After catching the eye of Vogue and other fashion influencers five years ago, he made his Haute Couture debut in Paris in 2023 as a guest.

Undaunted by becoming the first Hong Kong designer on the fashion world's elite stage, he sent out models in outfits with stains and obvious defects.

For Autumn-Winter 2025, he included what looked like blood-stained handprints, while he also likes to incorporate disembodied hands or limbs.

What you will not find is an obvious Chinese aesthetic.

"It's a beautiful thing to be able to reference your culture and put it into your work. There's so many creators out there doing a marvelous job at that," Wun explained.

He aims for something more universal, boundary-defying, or as he puts it "the power of taking a back seat sometimes to let your work speak for itself, not yourself being the centre (of attention).

"It's less about, like 'oh my god, I was inspired by this Chinese painting'."

- Latest show -

His latest autumn-winter collection was named "Childsplay" and drew inspiration from fairytales and Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, whose films are beloved by kids and adults alike.

It was a slight departure from Wun's previous work, more playful yet still unsettling, with the use of male models and suits a reminder that he is happy to blur gender lines.

"It was never really my intention to do something that perhaps people see as very serious, or as a reflection upon the times, when things are difficult and dark," he said.

"I really used childhood as the anchor ... I'm not using the lens of a child to create this collection. It's more from the point of an adult that has lost childhood, and what are we supposed to do now, looking back."

E.Cruz--SFF