Flight continued to inspire Yang Li in Shang Xia’s spring collection. Moving on from last season’s rock-’n’-roll birds, he looked at the earliest stages of human flight: kites.
The designer commissioned 20 handmade kites from a Szechuan-based master of the craft, their shapes and colorful design translated into the pattern and motifs of the collection.
Plus, they made for a great background to the season’s look book images, since the brand skipped a runway show in favor of appointments at its Paris office, a decision meant to reflect “the brand [having] many legs — furniture, food and beverage concepts for China,” said Li.
He pursued “being minimal but with an Eastern hand” throughout the lineup, relying on folding and geometric lines, which he modulated this season with smocking used for decorative as well as structural purpose on a trenchcoat, or deceptively simple darts that pushed drawstring trousers away from being casual.
Elsewhere, he played with ‘90s floral motifs that were ubiquitous in his Beijing childhood, referenced Ming-style furniture with rectangular color blocking on the front of a coat, or offered a mini-length quipao.
Those best exemplified Li’s intention of creating “a uniform for a new urban Chinese generation” — whether they live in Shanghai, Sydney or San Diego, although the brand’s retail footprint remains relatively limited outside of China for now.