SISIO’s Fall/Winter 2023 Paris Fashion Week collection pays tribute to the healing powers of crystal and the wisdom and teachings of the Heart Sutra. In the label's founder and designer Charlotte Shao’s tough time struggling with bipolar disorder, she spent a lot of time reading the Heart Sutra and collecting natural crystals. The collection showcases a unique way to combine crystal with apparel with a contemporary take on the Heart Sutra, a popular sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The best-known version was translated by Xuanzang in Tang (602 – 664 A.D.) Dynasty and has a total of 260 Chinese characters.

Natural crystal contains a powerful and abundant energy after millions of years of refining on Earth and Charlotte Shao wishes to combine crystals with clothing in a unique way, retaining the original irregular shape of the crystals, and handcrafting to fix them to the fabric without adding any extra weight. SISIO also collaborated with Asian designer Rita Zhou to display the collection using jewelry made with crystal balls.

The unique Fall/Winter designs utilize both fabric made of natural banana leaf from Southeast Asia as well as a combination of handwriting Chinese calligraphy patterns and rice paper fabric. Chinese calligraphy pattern is heavily prominent in this season’s presentation as well as ruffled, asymmetrical, and deconstructed designs to complete the combination of traditional elements yet contemporary aesthetic.

FASHIONADO