Fashion Zoot meets

YIQING YIN HAUTE COUTURE A/W 2011

Contemplating New Corporeal Forms: Designer Yiqing Yin talks to Zoot Magazine about her latest collection and the power of Haute Couture.

Text by Anna Battista

French-Australian designer Yiqing Yin may be only twenty-six years old, but when she talks about Haute Couture she definitely sounds like a veteran. Her new collection – presented at the beginning of July during Paris Haute Couture Week – moved indeed from the highest craftsmanship principles, though one of the main aims of the designer is bringing innovation into the world of High Fashion through new shapes and silhouettes. This is also the essence of her latest collection: entitled “Ouvrir Vénus”, the collection includes designs characterised by finely pleated concertina-like folds that create movement. In some cases the pleated motifs are so tight that they form structures resembling mushroom gills or create the illusion of sculpting human faces into the fabric; in others, the designer releases the pleats to provide fullness and ethereal volumes.

Yin studied at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs and last year she took part in the Hyères International Festival. One of the finalists of the ANDAM 2011 competition, she received the Young Designer Prize, a €60,000 award that will help her developing her next Haute Couture collection.

Zoot Magazine: Can you introduce us your Haute Couture collection “Ouvrir Vénus”?

Yiqing Yin: The title of the collection means “Opening Venus” and, when I started working on this theme, the main concept almost evoked a rather direct and violent scene, imagine the ideal of beauty flayed open, or think about peeling the outer layer of the body to reveal the inside. The more I researched the concept, the more I found a new direction for my graphic research that brought me to mineral forms, anatomy and the notion of human mutation in anatomical studies. So I tried to reinvent a new body in different materials, not just fabrics, but also crystals or fur, using for example mink and fox in the same garment almost to create a new animal or a fantastic creature.

Zoot Magazine: Is this the first time you use fur in your collections?

Yiqing Yin: Yes it is. I was very lucky because I did a partnership with Saga Furs and they offered not only high quality furs, but also advice and educational support on the best approach to this material. They introduced me to fur through a training session and I found it extremely inspiring going to their showroom in Denmark and work with the furriers and their technical team to find new solutions to incorporate this material in my work.

Zoot Magazine: Some of your designs seem to be characterised by alien shapes with pleated and draped motifs forming at times movements that call to mind digital images: do you ever use digital processes in your designs?

Yiqing Yin: I actually never do, but I think there may be some really interesting solutions when it comes to digital processing. I make all my designs by hand: they are based on very traditional techniques and methods from the French Haute Couture, though I always try to create innovative shapes for the body in my designs. For example, I find it very interesting creating contrasts between stronger and softer surfaces that can surround the body in different ways giving it a new look.

Zoot Magazine: Is it difficult to create the patterns for your designs?

Yiqing Yin: Patterning is one of the hardest parts of the process because all the draped parts are done directly on the dummy. After that I mark the pleated parts, open the fabric flat again and draw all the patterns and make all the alterations I need. This part is quite hard and you must be very focused. Then it’s back on the dummy for the finishing, so it’s quite a long and precise process of working.

Zoot Magazine: In your opinion, has Haute Couture changed?

Yiqing Yin: I think it has changed for the better. Just a few years ago Haute Couture was in a worse situation with ateliers closing down. Quite a few fashion houses are proving that Haute Couture can and must survive also thanks to the high levels of craftsmanship they employ in their collections, think about Chanel for example. Besides, the French Federation – the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture – did a great job presenting Haute Couture Week in a very interesting way, inviting a younger generation of designers such as Maxime Simoens and I to be part of the event. I think the Federation is genuinely encouraging young designers to bring new energy and fresh blood into couture. A while back when you thought about French Haute Couture, the first thing your mind would conjure up was something traditional from the past, usually destined to wealthy and mature ladies, but things have dramatically changed in the last few years.

Zoot Magazine: Why is Haute Couture still important?

Yiqing Yin: Because it has got its own specific values and one of those values is showing and sharing with other people special creations designed for the sake of emotion and beauty without emphasis on strictly commercial aspects. I guess there is a sort of enthusiastic and positive energy in couture that is joyful because it implies a designer sharing a story and trying to communicate an emotion to their audience and not just creating a product.

Zoot Magazine: Do you feel that Haute Couture can be a viable career option for young designers?

Yiqing Yin: Haute Couture is my choice, but it is also not my choice. When you don’t have a rich family supporting you, you must try and self-finance a project and couture is often the best way not to compromise. Young designers may not have the means and structures that big houses have, but we do have the freedom, imagination and power to express our vision in a strong way and I think Haute Couture can help a young designer working on their identity and getting the experience and even financial support to create a product.

Zoot Magazine: You were recently awarded the Young Designer Prize at the ANDAM Award, how do you feel about it?

Yiqing Yin: I was really honoured to be selected because the jury was really packed with interesting people. In a way I felt I didn’t fit the requirements since I applied with a Haute Couture project, but they respected my choice and encouraged it. I was really proud to be given a special prize that will help me producing my next Haute Couture collection, it was really encouraging.

Zoot Magazine: Do you have any special plans for your future collections?

Yiqing Yin: In future I’d like to look into the possibilities of working with professionals from other fields, not only designers but maybe also architects.