The brand of LiiYuan has actually been around for some years, and it used to have some cooperation with many well-known stores in China. Strangely, LiiYuan is not as well-known as it once was, but it has amazing offerings (good tailoring) and, more importantly, aesthetic originality. I very much hope that his works can be seen, experienced and understood by more people, and more dissemination may be recognized internationally.
Let us check his journey in this trade.
Please introduce yourself.
I am a northerner born in Hubei Province. Graduated from Hubei Institute of Fine Arts majoring in fashion design.
When did you fall in love with suits and what do you like about it?
As a person engaged in clothing-related work, it is inevitable that I encountered requirements of dress, and by chance, a friend said “why not make a suit yourself” and I began to embark on this road.
How did you start turning this into a profession? Was there a mentor?
Of course, every year and at every stage, friends or guests, they gave me new inspirations and made me constantly think and reflect on products.
What are the stages of your tailoring? I’ve seen photos when you just launched this brand, both in terms of clothes and people, which are completely different from now.
When I first entered the industry, the initiative was handled by the workshop or factory, because I lacked practical experience. The factory will guide me about products. Gradually, with my knowledge and cognition improved, there were more requirements for the craftsmanship and most domestic factories cannot fully realize the products I want. Today I work with my classmate to hand make every piece of garment and the cooperation complements each other.
What is it like to run a bespoke tailoring house in the city of Wuhan?
Wuhan has a history and culture, which I like, it has mundane lives and deep humanity touch, I think these things provide a environment for people and brands who want to make products well.
What is the aesthetic experience that LiiYuan gives people now?
I don’t dare to say what obvious and special aesthetic framework we have, I have my own aesthetic cognition, take the suit, I hope it has a romantic and classical temperament but does not look “old”.
Many tailoring houses are so into craftsmanship, and what do you think of the craftsmanship? Is it the key to execute your aesthetic expression?
Craftsmanship and aesthetics are complementary relationships, beauty is nothing more than the expression of lines and structures, and they need a craft system to realize the construction. Fortunately, I don’t have much difficulty communicating with my classmate as we understand each other so well.
The current situation in China is that if you are the version of a foreign master, you are awesome, and if you make it yourself, it is low. Do you think this makes sense? Can’t we build our own aesthetics from scractch?
“we want to see more then we need to stand on the shoulders of giants”, on the road to growth and build our own cognition, we are all learning from better and more mature products, I do not recommend blindly following the trend, we should be more objective to see whether the house style fits you.
Break down your iconic double-breasted aesthetics.
As a friend of mine said, “Ferrari achieves its wonderful proportion by making the front slenderer”, the weight center of our double breasted is low, and then coordinate the position of the lapel to balance its length.
What kind of customers and products do you prefer?
I really don’t choose customers, if you respect me, I will respect you.
Some people say that you are the king of Asian silk because you made so many pure silk suit, how do you understand? How about pairing?
Everyone has their own preferences, I like the “sense of space” that natural materials can bring to the final presentation, silk happens to be the customer who loves and chose us.
Because you present your clothing on your body, the clothes give a strong sense of your personal style, but in fact, the style is universal or not?
What I pursue is product stability, that is, my clothes have no difference no matter who wears them. Of course, my self-demonstration is also a more intuitive expression of our advocated and pursued aesthetic presentation. Objectively speaking, our production everyone has an expression with my clothes and maybe yours are more awesome than mine.