At the Capsule Show in New York City last week, I had the wonderful pleasure of being introduced to Hong Kong designer Pak Man Lee (“Pac”) of The Perfect Tangent, which he launched in 2009.While the line is utilitarian in nature, each garment is based on the “Golden Ratio Fit,” which is this designer’s pursuit of the perfect, timeless fit.
“The reasoning behind Pac’s investigation stems from the movie “Pi,” which he saw in 1998:
“Mathematics are the Language of Nature. Everything around those can be represented and understood through Numbers. If you graph the Numbers at any system, Patterns emerged. Therefore, there are patterns everywhere in nature.”
The Golden Ratio Fit is based on the famous painting, the Vitruvian Man, which Leonardo da Vinci pained in 1487 as a study on human proportions that Roman writer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio had described centuries earlier (photo top).
Designer Pac develops this notion with the “Fibonacci Sequence” of numbers, which is named after Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa and dates back to ancient India.
The higher up the sequence, the closer the algorithm approaches the golden ratio. The following image features chest width and the Fibonacci Sequence.
Pac then translates the Fibonacci Sequence into the Golden Ratio Fit with a shirt.
The designer then offers various cuts by compromising different body shapes, as he slims the body by skimming a continuous tangent along the side of the torso.
Finally, on this premise the designer explores assorted styles and cuts for his collections in menswear.
Okay, I admit. The concept goes a bit over my head too. But the end result is more than comprehensible: timeless designs that are unique to the industry.
See the look book here.
Photos Copyright The Perfect Tangent.
