Since the launch of her label in 2017, designer Susan Fang has become known for her dreamy designs that range from floral-adorned tulle dresses to vibrantly colored knits. (She has also made a splash for her fantasy-fueled, over-the-top Fashion Week Shows like the Fall 2023 catwalk that featured a runway made up of dried rose petals and dresses that misted over it.) Now the London-based designer is sharing her unabashedly feminine vision with a wider audience thanks to a Susan Fang x & Other Stories collection.
Fang was “super excited” about the partnership with the popular Swedish brand, “because my friends and I love & Other Stories and we wear it a lot.” For inspiration, she looked to moments in nature: the wind hitting the leaves of a tree and air bubbles appearing and disappearing in the water, among other things. According to Frida Billegren, concept designer for & Other Stories, that connection to nature (a throughline in all of Fang’s work) is what attracted her to the designer. “When I saw Susan’s designs, I felt an emotion,” Billegren says. “It was such a great experience to get a sneak peek into Susan’s world and just also quite calming.”
When designing the 11-piece collection, which used recycled materials, Fang wanted to “make our [runway] showpieces into something that can be more wearable in daily life” for the & Other Stories customer. “It was important that we show our signature piece but make that into something more accessible for a wider audience,” she says. Fang’s frothy gowns (that have doubled as bridal dresses) transformed into a blue sundress featuring voluminous laser-cut flower petals, a great look for a wedding guest. The hand-crochet knitwear, created by Fang’s mother for the catwalks, appears in the form of a pastel-hued net dress and top that would look perfect at a pool party or a musical festival. There is the broderie anglaise mini skirt silhouette that Fang has become known for, but now it comes with an equally sweet matching blouse with scalloped trimming for a weekend outing.
Several pieces in the co-lab collection also reference Fang’s signature glass beads in the form of glitter-speckled spheres that adorn a cropped T-shirt, the crochet pieces, and the straps of the blouse. “[For me] one of the most beautiful sceneries is in the morning when you see the dews of water drops in the grass… it’s abstract enough but [also something] people can connect to,” says Fang of the adornment. “What’s really beautiful about fashion is that we can bring these very ethereal moments of joy into an object. So trying to bring something emotional and spiritual into something physical.”
The same level of thoughtfulness was put into the co-lab’s accessories which include an oversized statement 3-D flower choker. “In recent years, I started to do a lot of 3-D printed transparent flowers,” says Fang, who enjoyed re-creating the look in recycled resin for the collaboration. “It’s still a very statement-styling piece but also lightweight.” Meanwhile, the brand’s “bubble” shoes got reimagined as chunky diamanté sandals, crafted from chrome-free leather and made with a soft cushion. “& Other Stories was amazing at replicating the designs in very wearable, super-soft materials,” says Fang. “The collection looks so heavily crafted but with the best price possible.”
In addition to creating clothing that exudes “positivity,” “joy,” and fantasy, the two brands wanted to create versatile pieces that could be worn in multiple ways. This manifested in design details like the T-shirt, which can be worn off-the-shoulder, and the floral dress featuring removable straps. “We don’t want to restrict how people wear the collection,” says Fang.
With the co-lab, Fang hopes to inspire people to appreciate the “moments of beauty we find in our life… We really hope that, when you twirl around the dress or it flutters in the wind, it can bring the connection and joy of that moment with nature.”
Shop the Susan Fang x & Other Stories collection, ranging from $79 to $399, now.
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