Mark moved to the US as a teenager to study at the rural Midland School in Los Olivos, in California, before making his way to New York City to graduate in Fashion Design at Parsons. He launched his eponymous label in New York in 2018 before moving back to Shanghai in 2020 to expand his business.
Mark’s contrasting education gave him his unique take on balance; one he has leveraged to the full as he gained knowledge and maturity as a designer; a balance he now applies to his life, how he conducts business and how he creates. MARKGONG’s collections tell intricate stories, they capture the unrestrained style of New York and the refinement of Shanghai. X
In Irma Vep, a 1996 French comedy-drama film written and directed by Olivier Assayas, an unstable French film director attempts to remake Louis Feuillade's classic silent film serial “Les Vampires” (1915), with disastrous results. The action takes place largely through the eyes of the actress Maggie Cheung, playing a fictionalized version of herself, as she oscillates from top star to villain. The movie escorts its audience through alarming situations while initiating a discussion on the intricate relationship between art, reality, and fantasy...
Animated by the multi-faceted female image inspired by Cheung’s movie character, the MARKGONG Fall/Winter 2023 collection teeters between sex appeal, power, experimentation and elegance, balance, tradition. Mark expands, freely and freshly, his take on 90’s sexy while playing with opulent codes to affirm the unique luxury aesthetic of MARKONG.
The collection blends nylon, leather, denim, embroidery, draping, fur and 3D printing, ingeniously crafting new forms in a memorable female identity: admission of sliced and crafted “suspenders”, waterproof jackets infused with strong body awareness, feathers displayed in wave rhythms, leopard patterns bursting with the tension of life, metallic-like sculptured bows and casts. Thus, in the convergence of balanced inspirations of star and villain, the rebellious personality of the GONG GIRL is exposed. X
To frame his story, Mark Gong designed a suitably dramatic art installation: large screens projecting flashes of lightning, rainy days, leopards, lifespan of flowers. This surreal projection, juxtaposed against a scarlet red runway, led the viewers into a vortex of illusion in a tense, ambiguous, wicked, compulsive tug. As each protagonist appeared on the runway at a hectic pace, a teasing game resonated with grace.
Whether it’s an undercurrent game, a play within a play, multiple identities, a romantic touch of scarlet in a black and white world, the GONG GIRL, in the midst of it, is given permission to play a fictionalized version of herself- both light and fearless. X
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