HENGDI WANG Explores Post-Human Myths with SS26 Collection “EXOGENESIS” at Debut London Fashion Week Show

For SS26, HENGDI WANG unveils EXOGENESIS—a meditation on the exogenous origins of life where Eastern mythology converges with post-human biological constructs, digital craftsmanship, and futuristic materials. EXOGENESIS envisions clothing as more than ornament or protection: it is a vessel of memory, a code of survival, and a bridge between the cosmic and the human.

In this narrative, ancient Eastern myths are reframed not as fantasy but as fragments of humanity’s collective memory—distant recollections of unknown star systems and interstellar encounters. The legendary bestiaries of Shan Hai Jing reappear as echoes of extraterrestrial forms, while Kunlun is reimagined as a crashed generational starship: a colossal relic from forgotten journeys across the stars.

Through 3D-printed textiles and metals inscribed with sacred geometry and nebula imagery, the collection reconstructs bones, scales, and mechanical exoskeletons into new forms that read resilience and fragility as one. Traditional embroidery and jacquard are recast as vessels of information, intertwining with digital algorithms to create an organic aesthetic that lives simultaneously in the past and the future.

The SS26 collection examines myth, memory, and futurism along three key axes:

Mythological Reimagination
Inspired by Shan Hai Jing and oracle bone script (Jiaguwen), primordial beasts and cosmic myths become biomorphic archetypes of extraterrestrial life. Ancient cultural codes evolve into a contemporary design language.

Biological and Mechanical Structures
Exoskeletal chitin, segmented armor, and iridescent scales are reinterpreted through advanced 3D printing, forming skeletal spirals and sacred geometries. These hyper-organic morphologies balance fragility and strength, merging the biological with the mechanical.

Mechanical Oracle Script
Borrowing from early inscriptions and digital coding, fabrics are laser-etched with “Mechanical Oracle Script,” a hybrid visual language of geometry, ancient scripts, and NASA celestial imagery. Garments glow with bioluminescent filaments, acting as living codes that narrate connectedness across cosmic and cellular scales.

With EXOGENESIS, HENGDI WANG proposes a radical exploration of continuity, cultural resonance, and transformation. Clothing is not merely worn—it becomes a container of time, a vessel of collective memory, and a living code that carries the human body toward the infinite unknown.