CHRISTIAN WIJNANTS | House of Lena

Lauded for his vibrant, artisanal knitwear, Antwerp designer Christian Wijnants creates contemporary, feminine silhouettes with a strong focus on fluid prints.

The designer started his endeavors in fashion in 1996 as a student at the Royal Academy of Fine Art. There he developed a fascination for innovative knitted fabrics and elegant, easy to wear designs. After a successful stint at Dries Van Noten, he launched his own eponymous label in 2003. From then on, his collections were picked up by department stores and boutiques throughout the world. Christian Wijnants won the International Woolmark Prize in 2013, opened a flagship store in Antwerp in 2015 and added a successful mens collection to his label in 2019.

Fall Winter 2022 collection is all about embracing warmth. The feeling of resilience, and serenity in a dormant state. The collection explores the duality of fragility and strength. There is always beauty in vulnerability.

A variation of uplifting colours surrounds the collection, soothing tones of lilac, turquoise, and light blue. Rich colours but always in the same mood of blue, teal, sage and strong accents of neon yellow and vivid spring green.

Knitwear remains an integral focus. Various weights and shapes, from hand knits to intarsia knits to checked jacquards. Full look silhouettes in big chunky knits. Meticulous crotchet handwork, striking colour blocked intarsia, grizzly textured boiled wool. Playful big fringes and wools with textured bouclé effect. Key takeaway is a luxurious 15 ply cashmere sweater, covetable and inexplicably soft, almost like wearing a cloud.

Cocoon sleeves, oversized shapes, gives a sense of warmth comfort, shelter and mystery. This season’s outerwear is a constant pairing of contrast and proportions. Drawing on the visions of contemporary painter Marlene Dumas and symbolist Belgian painter Fernand Khnopff. Dumas’s infamous portraits reflects an intimate but estranging atmosphere. Khnopff’s work of ethereal creatures rich in mystery and reverie remains an open source of interpretation for this season’s prints and textures.