Ziggy Chen opens SS26 with PRITRIKE, a collection that leans into nature’s slow force and quiet persistence. The name fuses “Primal” and “Strike,” hinting at a charged tension, something raw yet precise. Rather than drawing from nature’s image, Chen responds to its effect: steady rain, worn surfaces, and elements that reshape over time.
Summer in the Jiangnan region informs the collection’s atmosphere, humid air, soft rainfall, and rhythms that stretch rather than rush. Chen reflects this tempo through garments that carry ease. Each piece feels guided by instinct, then shaped by control.
Natural fibres like hemp, silk, cotton, and linen define the base. Treatments, garment dyeing and gold bonding, alter the texture without erasing it. The fabric softens, but keeps its edge. Roughness remains visible, transformed rather than removed. That balance between grain and finish stays central.
Color follows a similar line of thought. Black sets the tone: dense, grounded, unshaken. Dirty white balances it, touched by time. Between them, the palette reflects surfaces exposed to air and age: faded wallpaper, oxidized metal, water-stained stone.
Chen brings that same sensibility to print. PRITRIKE introduces patterns shaped by exposure rather than control. Raindrops, ink stains, and watermarks appear as if left behind rather than designed. He draws from walls soaked during summer storms, where marks spread and fade with time.
Shapes follow the body without forcing it. Garments stay close, yet move freely. The cuts support comfort without falling into softness. They carry weight in silence, like heat held in still air. Fabric and form work together.
PRITRIKE does not lean on clarity or resolution. Chen lets texture speak, lets surface suggest. This season steps back to let material and memory do the work.
