INF, Light Up the Dark Age/ INF 點亮艱澀的暗黑時代

Ten years later, Taiwanese designer brand INF has finally become a hot topic worldwide and has been discussed by many people this year. For Wei Kuo, the founder of the INF, the energy accumulated over the past ten years is finally released. And he has confirmed that his belief is not just a daydream.

"The darkness is not purely visual,

but the values and backstory defines the connotation of the brand."

INF has been dubbed the title of ‘the darkness brand’ years ago. It is not groundless to say that its fashion has always used black as the main visual body in the past, giving people a sense of coldness and a sense of distance. "The darkness is not purely visual, but the values and backstory defines the connotation of the brand. Why did I chose darkness as a theme? That is because it can better reflect our tailoring."

This Taiwanese designer brand finally appeared on the international stage ten years after its establishment and gained unstoppable attention after appearing on the official schedule at New York Fashion Week. For designer Wei Kuo, New York Fashion Week has always been his first choice for overseas exposure and returning to Taipei Fashion Week with an unstoppable momentum is actually more of a bigger challenge for him. "I have always hoped that this brand can unveil its collection at the New York Fashion Week. I am very happy to get attention this time, but I will not be satisfied with this. I will continue to create more collections in the future." As for why he chose New York, Wei Kuo added, "For me, there is nothing like New York Fashion Week allowing foreigners to see the people's sentiments in Taiwan."

"The current society has a big bias about fashion."

The general idea is that fashion is glamorous and a dream of a high quality of life, but for Wei Kuo, this is actually a misunderstanding of fashion in this society. "I think the current society has a lot of bias about fashion. Many people think that you must be bright and beautiful to wear such clothes and accessories to live such a life. But the truth is not like that. I think fashion is just a commodity, it should be an attitude to life. It should be through this attitude that you carry out your own self-realisation, as well as self-belief and value. Because anyone can be fashionable, but everyone's fashion should be different." As the brand designer, he gave a sonorous explanation of the word fashion.

"All people are equal"

INF's Autumn/Winter 2021 collection takes Time Machine as the theme, and features Shu-Fang Chen as the protagonist. Together with Zheng Gang Tang and Eunice Liao, they interpret Taiwanese culture and emotions for 40 years. In this short film, INF shows the delicate emotions in Taiwan's traditional grocery shop.

Besides, for Wei Kuo, equality has always been a value that the INF brand cherish. "All people are equal, and since the Autumn/Winter 2018 collection Pre Existing Equality, we began to emphasise equality. In addition, we used the Sun Sun’s A Reading of First Love in the latest collection. The soundtrack is because her lyrics "Make your own decision in love. Make your own decision in life" was a challenge to the 90 years ago in Taiwan, but now it is not so conservative."

"The era will inevitably move forward.

If what I am doing now attracts controversy, then I will be curious about

how people will treat this matter in a hundred years."

For Wei Kuo, this year has not only won unprecedented media exposure, but also made everyone notice that Taiwan not only has innovative strength, but also has a strong cultural heritage. However, in Taiwan, which seems to be open in mind, there are still many conservatives. Therefore, will the same-sexuality relationship in Time Machine attract controversy? Wei Kuo replied firmly, "The times will inevitably move forward. If what we are doing now attracts controversy, then I will be curious about how people will treat this matter in a hundred years. And I think the world must be diverse. Just like the style of clothing, it should not follow the trend, but you can still bravely reflect your attitude in the group."