Anyone who attends William Fan’s shows knows that he aims to create worlds rather than just collections. With his spring 2027 collection “Exchange,” which opened Berlin Fashion Week, he approached this idea almost literally. In a hall whose columns were wrapped in foil and densely filled with hanging objects, the show unfolded like a vertically staged flea market. Was it a runway or an archive? A presentation or a collection?
“Exchange,” as Fan himself said, had its roots in movement—particularly in travel. The designer described an eight-week journey that took him from Marrakech to Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, always with what he called a “collector’s mindset.” He doesn’t simply pass through places; he collects them. Objects, impressions, images, textures.
On the body, this tension translated into movement. “It’s going to be bouncy,” Fan had hinted in a conversation before the show. Pleating became the defining stylistic element of the season, no longer just a decorative surface but a structural principle. The result was clothing that changed with every step, dissolving rigidity in favor of lightness and flow. Here, elegance does not mean control, but rather ease. The silhouettes followed the same rhythm. Low-sitting waists, elongated proportions, and layered elements shifted the focus downward. Pants appeared in multiple lengths, layered on top of one another.
The star of this (and many) Fan collections was the styling. Fan does not design looks, but rather individual pieces, with cuts and designs carried over from season to season. Cargo pants reimagined in a variety of fabrics formed the backbone of the collection. Belts, leather trim on the pant cuffs, visible boxer brief waistbands, and small metallic tassel pendants added accents, like souvenirs. “The journey is part of the destination,” said Fan.
