Korean designer Rok Hwang grew up in Austin, the Texan capital somehow both at the center of art and music and yet never a stone’s throw away from the nearest rodeo. Taking from a coming-of-age that spanned the hybridity of Austin, to the Nottingham of his teenage years, and, later, to London, where the designer attended fashion school, ROKH’s collaboration with H&M is a collection as unpredictable as a mirage in a Texan landscape. Equally inspired by 1980s office culture, Rokh H&M twists the codes of corporate power dressing to adapt to any environment. Double-layered trenches, asymmetrical button-ups, and doubled-leather belts translate well even to Paris, where ROKH is currently based. They also do well in Berlin’s Neukölln, where Christian Werner imagines the collection amongst abandoned markers of modern utility.

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