Press
Articles from Hong Kong on the launch of my ready-to-wear collection, Yi Zhou.
From Here to Celebrity
by Davena Mok, pictures by Rensis Ho
West East Magazine, Issue 2, 2001.
Young, dynamic, ambitious, talented, passionate… There is a new breed of globalised asian, in tune with eastern sensibilities yet shaped by western outlooks. Meet six rising stars who are carving new grooves in design, fashion, film, music and sport. they're moving up. Fast.
Being the perfect model for your own creations can be the best asset of any rising fashion designer. Yi Zhou's gorgeous face and svelte figure, personable, down-to-earth nature, and bright, cheery personality help sell her eponymous collection. And her intriguing background adds a touch of mysticism to her beautifully draped dresses, artistically structured pieces and sensual leather wraps. Her language ability—she is fluent in Dutch, Mandarin, Qingtianhua, Cantonese and English—reflects her globe-trotting life. Born in Qingtian, China, her family emigrated to the Netherlands when she was 10. After school, she went to Amsterdam's Montaigne Fashion Academy and graduated as the best student designer in 1997. Immediately she scored a job with a Dutch sportswear company based in Hong Kong. And last March she launched her first collection in the SAR.
"When I was a child in China, I remember knitting and hand-sewing little dresses for a doll my mum made from fabric stuffed with rice," the elfin-like 28-year-old recalls. "But I never grew up thinking of doing fashion design. I just loved art. I fell in love with the feeling of fabrics and remember being fascinated by a mannequin."
Her passion was not a surprise: in China, her father was a bed-linen textile designer. Specialising in conceptual fashion design, Zhou follows a free-form draping discipline. The results are feminine, fluid, individual and modern. "If you look at Japanese and Chinese garments, from traditional dresses to modern designers like Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, design stems from the material," Zhou says. English designers, on the other hand, focus on tailoring. "When a garment drapes a body, it is very natural. I feel very close to this Eastern style" she says.
While very in touch with her Chinese roots, visiting her birthplace and other cities regularly (she sources and manufactures garments in Guangzhou), Zhou acknowledges the benefits of her mixed upbringing and appreciates Hong Kong's East-West lifestyle. "I am happy to have all this luggage as my background," she says. "My Chineseness brings out my sensitivity, while my Dutch side gives me a good sense of practicality and reality, to take chances yet create opportunities for myself at the same time." One opportunity she plans to create is to take her label to China, Japan and Taiwan. And true to her practical nature, she says Holland would also be an option, but different sizings may prove too difficult for now.
For the time being, Zhou is focusing on her biannual collection that is sold through a specialist boutique in Hong Kong. She favours natural fibres like wool, silk, cotton and leather, and describes her designs as "timeless, regardless of the season or year". Essentially, a Yi Zhou piece will be "more like a cyclical thing". Like the designer's own life.
What's your passion? "Life, my work and the people I care about. Somehow, they bring me closer to me. And the emotional value they add to me comes out in my work."
What Women Want
by Tim Lim
South China Morning Post, April 8, 2001.
Designer Yi Zhou is the newest kid on the local fashion block. But instead of creating overly edgy styles, she's adopted a realistic approach and come up with clothes that look good, feel great and are practical to boot.
A month ago, young fashion designer Yi Zhou invited about 40 friends, artists, journalists and a few industry types to her debut show at the Fringe Club in Central. She wasn't looking to sell anything, claiming she still has "a lot to learn" about designing clothes, but wanted to gauge the reaction to what had been a challenging, but rewarding, year-long project.
"I find it so hard to describe my clothes," says Zhou, who models her creations in the photos below and right. "When people ask, I just say 'feelings' because that's essentially what they're about. I ask myself questions when I'm working—such as why I'm doing this, if I should stay in Hong Kong, and whether the world really needs more clothes. It's like having a child—you need to find out what you stand for and believe in, so you can nurture and guide it. It will stand on its own eventually. I was really nervous of exposing my work to an audience, but it's important to get feedback."
Zhou's collection, which was modelled at her show by some of her friends, is simultaneously intelligent, sexy and wearable. "I believe in creativity and innovation, but the most important thing is women actually wanting to wear the clothes. Otherwise, why bother? My friends were nervous about modelling for me, but as soon as they tried on the clothes, you could see they felt comfortable in them," she says.
The mainland-born designer moved to the Netherlands when she was 10, which she believes shaped her realistic approach to fashion—a rarity among young designers. "The Dutch are very down-to-earth people," she explains. A stint working for a sportswear company brought her to Hong Kong three years ago, and played an important part in her design philosophy: look underneath her beautifully draped silk dresses and sexy leather wrap-tops, for instance, and you'll find techno-fabrics that not only function as linings, but give added support to the women wearing them.
"I'm the first person to wear the clothes," says Zhou. "I wander round my flat trying them out, and I'm always making little adjustments. It's an evolution."