FAN GIRL Universe Meets Petra Collins and Jenny Fax

SSENSE exclusive brand I’m Sorry by Petra Collins welcomes you to its Seoul pop-up.

Is anything quite so sacred to girlhood as the bedroom? For Petra Collins, girlhood was a period of discovery, a time when art was an escape and a roadmap for the future. Her bedroom was a shrine to her dreams and ambitions, filled with photographs, posters, and collected ephemera. Years later, she still builds on that eternal girlhood, translating it into images, films, and her fashion brand, I’m Sorry by Petra Collins.

Now in its fifth drop as an SSENSE exclusive, I’m Sorry extends an invitation to Jenny Fax, the Tokyo-based label by Jen Fang. “I’ve been a fan of Jen since the early internet days,” Collins says. “Her clothes have always inspired me. To me, she’s the perfect designer for I’m Sorry; her work is like the clothing counterpart to the way I take photos or think.” Jen recalls their first conversations about a potential collaboration: “I thought the brand name was unique and intriguing, and the imagery instantly caught my attention. I remember being in an Uber in Los Angeles, talking about the brand’s story with Petra, and that’s when we started imagining what working together would look like.”

Shared admiration is the heart of the collection’s creative campaign, shot by Fish Zhang in Tokyo. The visuals seek to illustrate the hyperreal, emotionally charged aesthetics of pop-idol fandom and girl-group culture—a space where devotion can blur into obsession. Schoolgirls navigate their own tightly defined codes: layering tracksuits under uniforms, pooling allowances for fast food, reenacting idol performances, whispering secrets in bedroom fortresses. These moments are stitched into Collins’s and Jen’s design ethos. “The most important thing in design is that it starts with reality,” Jen says. “It needs to come from the real world before moving into the imagination. That’s how it truly resonates.”

Drop 5 is a playful expansion of I’m Sorry’s signature sensibility. A puff-sleeve dress emblazoned with the brand’s name. A cute sister set tee and skirt combo—a sleeveless jersey reading “FAN GIRL,” paying homage to Collins and Jen’s mutual admiration. A sailor-collar cardigan hoodie dress nodding to school uniforms. A hamster-print tee referencing Jen’s fear of rodents. Cookie earrings, created in collaboration with D’heygere, feature ants crawling across their surface—a nod to Collins’s childhood phobia. “When I was little in Hungary, my grandma told me never to leave chips or cookies open, but of course, I did,” she recalls. “I’ve always been a bad sleeper, so I woke up early, went downstairs, and started eating these cookies—then I looked down and saw hundreds of ants all over them. That’s part of the inspiration for the cookie earrings. It’s very I’m Sorry.”

Asked which pieces she loves most this season, Jen names the cardigan hoodie dress, apron dress, and sister set. “They remind me of Halloween costumes,” she says. “Like this collection, they mix seriousness with humor.” “The greatness of this collection lies in its details,” Collins offers. “Specifically with the hoodie dress, you have a full skirt and top that looks like a dress from the front, and from the back it’s a hoodie. That is another one of Jen’s talents, that she can flip anything on its head to make it interesting.” The best way to style I’m Sorry? “Wear it every day until it falls apart,” Collin says. “Wear it like you are wearing it because you’re the main character of a movie and it’s your costume for the next nine months. Or wear it as the most cozy piece that you have in your closet that you can lounge around and chill with.” Collins’s advice.

To celebrate the launch, I’m Sorry is hosting a pop-up at 032c Gallery Seoul from March 20 to April 4, 2025, featuring a book signing with Collins on March 20. Given her history of working with K-pop icons like BLACKPINK and NewJeans, staging a pop-up in the heart of fandom itself feels like a full-circle moment. The new release includes a zine featuring Blythe dolls dressed in miniature I’m Sorry looks—a collectible as dreamy as the brand itself. “I went to Seoul three or four times last year, which was crazy,” Collins shares. “Seeing the city through my friends’ eyes was amazing. I’m a massive collector of clothing, and there’s such a strong collecting culture there. This collection felt like the perfect fit for Seoul.”