Shanghai-based brand Windowsen, a portmanteau of Windows operating system and designer Sensen Lii, is effectively coining a new genre of design: biomechanical fashion.
The label's Spring/Summer 2022 collection looks to a future that's as high-tech as it is dystopian.
"Deep down to the grimy underground, the battle has started, so intense that you [can] sense the air is getting slowly evacuated," a press release for the range and runway show reads.
"A distant roar announces the birth of a new species, the mix of mechanical and biological walking straight to the outsiders, shaking the earth."
Lii takes this vision of the future and runs with it. Dubbed "Monster Heart," the collection features crystal-encrusted gowns dripping in chains, spiky-eared gimp masks, and chunky sandals with their own pointy "toenails" — an interpretation of the sort of armor-adjacent get-up humans might be wearing in, say, 100 years.
Windowsen's latest outing isn't entirely rooted in fantasy, though. Looking to technical sportswear, Lii also offers a bit of wearability in the form of motocross-inspired outerwear, deconstructed hoodies, and graphic tees reminiscent of Muay Thai boxing gear.
The undisputed highlight of the show is its finale look, a super-oversized racing jersey modeled by a dude strapped into robotic, Transformers-like boots.
Last month, Windowsen teased the gigantic "legs" on Instagram with a video demonstrating the difficult task of walking with them. "Work hard, walk hard," the caption reads.
Coincidentally, Balenciaga debuted a similarly spirited SS22 campaign featuring a robotic "exoskeleton suit" by Ikeuchi Hiroto.
Given the goings-on at this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference, we might need biomechanical armor and exoskeleton suits sooner than we think.
