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(Last Edited, 9AM PST — July 6th: Hyperlinks, changes to a few sentences. I’m still tired and jet-lagged from this trip, sue me.)
Letter from the Editor
While this interview was being formatted by our contributing writer, I had the pleasure of visiting John Ro at his showroom during Paris Fashion Week SS27 to see the collection in person, while also having a friend of mine, Mackai Sharp, photograph the space for this piece.
The reason I keep coming back to De Dam Foundation, and why I’ve desperately wanted to own one of John’s pieces, is because of his commitment to quality in his collections. That, and our conversations never cease to amaze me. He’s one of the more honest, open, and knowledgeable people I’ve met throughout my trips to Paris Fashion Week.
He’s also known as Porsche Guy, but we can dive into that at a later date.
As for the result of that commitment to quality, well, you get a beautifully made collection, consisting of clothes that feel like luxury without ever feeling overdone, or over-designed. All while simultaneously being able to flatter a wide-range of body types through his one-size-fits-all sizing. He prides himself on the fabrics he uses, sourcing the majority of them from Italy and Japan. This season, he introduced a few lightweight knits (seen below), all three being made in Italy through a small, family-run operation.
Out of curiosity, I asked him how it’s been working with this particular mill.
“It’s incredibly technical, knitwear is a completely different world compared to woven fabrics,” he says. “They’ve been invaluable in helping me develop these pieces.”
SS27 introduces a welcome dose of colour to De Dam Foundation. One of my favourites was a butter-yellow jacket that sat somewhere between a classic chore coat and an artist’s smock. That, alongside the lightweight linen sweaters, which come in washed grey, navy, and brown, were among the highlights of the collection. John also showed me a standing-collar zip blouson (message me for pics u lil freak), which I believe was cut from a lightweight black wool. If he’d had an extra sample lying around, I probably would’ve walked ran out of the showroom wearing it.
The collection strikes this satisfying balance between luxury and practicality. Everything feels sharp and sophisticated, yet these are garms you can wear in almost any setting, rain or shine. Well, ideally not rain, but you get what I’m saying.
