YEOHLEE SPRING 2017 - Vogue September 12, 2016

Sustainability is a fashion industry buzzword right now, but Yeohlee Teng has been thinking about her carbon footprint since before it was trending. “Minimize waste, maximize use” is her motto, so she tries to use every last scrap of fabric in her sewing room. Her approach centers around designing “efficient” clothes—functional, comfortable, and, above all, without frills. Teng’s customers are mostly women of a certain age who aren’t looking for the next must-have thing; they want clothes that will fit into their sleek, simplistic daily uniform so they can focus less on getting dressed and more on the tasks at hand.

Today’s show was a continuation of those ideas, but there was a new softness in the silhouettes. Past collections were oversize and boxy, but here it was more about fabrics collapsing around the body. Spring ’17 found Teng working with texture more than ever, particularly with a “shutter” fabric used on a boxy coat and shift dress. A khaki-color silk and cotton jacket also introduced a welcome bit of shine to all the crepes and matte jersey. What would be really surprising, though, would be to see Teng embrace a more womanly, body-skimming silhouette. Her clothes are always quite oversize—sometimes bordering on shapeless—and a defined waist is feeling a lot more relevant right now.

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