FIRST LOOK Romance Was Born Fruits & Flowers AW 2011

So when I first heard about what the inspiration for the latest Romance Was Born Autumn/Winter 2011 collection (named Fruits & Flowers) I can tell you I was not impressed. ‘Fruits & Flowers’ was inspired by China – The Dynasties, temples, the Beijing Opera and more. Hmmm

Many of you would know that I am a HUGE fan of Romance Was Born however this collection does nothing for me. Usually I would post about designers and their collections which I love but I’ve decided I’ll do both; I’ll post about what I love and what doesn’t tickle my fancy.

I feel as though I’ve stepped into a cheap Asian store in Chinatown, everything just is so camp. Past RWB collections have always had something more than extraordinary to them, there was an obvious edge, a difference. I feel like this collection has pieces which you can buy at any Asian traditional clothing store however RWB have stuck their label onto it and will charge you hundreds of dollars more. I don’t know if this is a homage to how the duo behind the label Anna Plunkett & Luke Sales found the name for their label (many of you might not know that they stumbled upon a sticker in store in Chinatown which had the words ‘romance was born’ and hence the label’s name was born.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but pretty much every collection is the same actual designs but different prints. Same jeans (different print), jacket styles (different print or colour) and same accessories (again different colour or print) so I didn’t really get blown away by this latest collection by Romance Was Born.

I say good luck to them though. What I would like to emphasise is how I don’t really think of this collection as being high fashion or even aesthetically pleasing fashion. But these are just my two cents. I’m not saying RWB are taking the piss or making fun of asian culture or anything, because you can clearly see they love it. This is just my own personal perspective (and to be honest I’m quite disappointed that RWB haven’t topped themselves) and it seems alot of you guys agree too. By all means I know there are RWB supporters who probably love this collection, I wanna hear your voice too!

what are your thoughts on the collection? Yay or nay? .

You can actually see these shoes are just Peep Toe shoes, modified with chinese dragon faces at the toes. Very easy to make yourself if this is your thing.

EDIT: so I’ve been informed that these shoes won’t be for sale. They are just for show. Peep Toe are sponsors for Romance Was Born. These shoes are props and are supposed to encourage you to dress up and create your own designs

I do love these light blue flower print pants though, they are pretty rad…

 Source: Pages Digital

EDIT: below is the official lookbook ( I love the Opium dress and still am digging the floral sunflower pants however my review remains the same, its still blergh. I still don’t see how wicker baskets, leopard print and tweed is asian in any way? )

xx