Yueqi Qi
Self-realised label Yueqi Qi strives to display and elevate the standard of Chinese craftsmanship on an international stage. The designer uses beads as fabric to illustrate different Chinese histories and learn about her heritage
What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning?
My husband. Foreigners aren’t allowed into China right now, so I call him as soon as I wake up and he calls me as soon as he wakes up.
What made you decide to come to study in London?
I knew from a young age, when I was a fat little Chinese girl, that I wanted to be a fashion designer.
I heard that CSM was the best fashion school in the world, so I attended an art school to prepare for doing a foundation in London. After foundation I applied for CSM and got accepted. I did everything I could to prepare myself for CSM and I dedicated all of my time to improving my skills. I was only 17 when I arrived at CSM and I barely spoke any English. It was my first time to be away from my family which is difficult for anyone, but it was a necessary struggle and it is part of growing up.
““I think we all have a different idea of what China is, just as we all have different ideas about what life is.””
From the outside, it feels like China has become a major source of unique creatives and exciting work. How do you compare the creative community in the UK to China?
In the UK there are many designers from all over the world. They each bring a very unique story about where they came from. I’m extremely grateful to have been surrounded by so many skilled and talented artists at CSM who were able to tell their stories through their work. The majority of designers I’ve met in London are incredibly well trained and are very cultured. They have been exposed to many things that people who have never left China would not understand. In China, though many of the designers studied abroad, they are all Chinese. We share a rich culture and there is a sense of comradery about where we come from and the culture we represent. I think we all have a different idea of what China is, just as we all have different ideas about what life is. Like in any country, there are many kinds of people. There are many Chinese designers who come from a lot of money and have access to cheap manufacturing. This undoubtedly helps many designers scale their business (for better or worse).
There are also many Chinese designers who don’t come from money but work very hard to achieve their dreams. I’ve been able to build my brand, by myself, from the ground up with a spool of string, a needle, and some beads. Some Chinese designers are in it exclusively for the money, some are in it for the art, and some are in it for social gain. I don’t think there is anything wrong with any of the reasons mentioned but I think it’s important to know that making money for one’s family in China is an extremely important part of our culture. Family is the most important thing here. I think these pressures can be a great motivation, but I think it can also artistically cripple some Chinese designers.
Your label whispers of China’s past through visual references to Chinese vintage. Do you think there are special characteristics of Chinese culture and creativity that provide you with a different perspective to work from?
I was born in China and into a Chinese body. If I was born in Morocco, I would tell stories about Morocco.
China is an ancient country. There is so much history to draw from. Part of my mission is to explore my history so I can learn more about who I am, where I come from, and then share that story through my work.
There are many interesting Chinese aesthetics that I am attracted to. If something catches my attention, I’ll spend time exploring the story of how it came to be. It’s not exclusive to physical objects but often a sentiment or feeling. Since WW2 China has changed drastically. I often think about China 1000 years ago, China during the cultural revolution, and modern China. Our country, like many others, has a very interesting and complicated past.
How did you arrive at choosing old China as an inspiratory foundation for Yueqi Qi?
There are many things that were lost during China’s industrial revolution. Well before we opened up, we taught the Japanese how to make sake. We invented silk screening and many other technologies that were modern at the time. China was an extremely modern civilisation before many others, but we fell behind for a period of time. Now we are extremely modern and the whole world outsources cheap manufacturing to us.
I want to go back and explore traditional Chinese craftsmanship. This is what I’m most interested in. Internationally China is often thought of as a place that makes cheap things, but I know our country is much richer and deeper than this. My intention as a designer is to elevate the standard of what Chinese craftsmanship is and to show it on an international stage.
Many of your collection’s visuals, particularly in your jewellery campaigns, incorporate graphics resembling old advertisements and posters. You always work with strong, block colours. What attracts you to this visual style?
As meditative as my work often is, my selection of colours is often intuitive. I’m attracted to vibrant colours found in nature. I love flowers. Flowers are a great inspiration to me. Though this is subject to change in modern times, I haven’t seen anyone design anything better than Mother Nature. In my most recent collection I wanted to incorporate jade as a colour and as an idea. Not real jade but a memory of jade which represents old world luxury to many Chinese people.
Your intricate beading work often forms what resemble pixelated images. I know that you learnt this way of working during your time with Chanel. How were you seduced to incorporate this technique so heavily into your label?
I started exploring bead work before working at Chanel, but I continued to further explore beading while working there. At Chanel they used beads for embroidery and embellishments. I decided to use beads as the fabric. For my final collection at CSM I wanted to explore the possibilities of beads. How can I tell a story with little glass beads? How can I paint with them? How can I sculpt with them? I really fell in love with the aesthetic and wanted to keep using beads as a medium. It’s incredibly time consuming to work with beads but it’s a meditative process. When we think about luxury, couture clothes are expensive because they use scarce and desirable materials and because the pieces are very time consuming to make. When I spend time doing bead work, I hope the final piece takes on a meaning bigger than the sum of its parts. I don’t think it’s necessary to suffer to make something beautiful and the time-consuming nature of bead work certainly shouldn’t be thought of as suffering.I think that beads are beautiful.
In your previous work you have referenced Chinese folklore and traditions for eternity. In AW2020 The Town of Silver and Jade you discuss urban life and old luxury. What motivated you to take this time, now, to homage this era of quality over speed?
The inspiration for this collection came from living in one of the humble apartment buildings in an otherwise luxurious and modern neighbourhood in Guangzhou. The neighbourhood was built on what was once farmland. There is something very ambiguous, sterile, and modern about the area. It doesn’t have any soul and it could be any street in any major city. It feels geographically ambiguous like an airport. I thought this was symbolic of a greater phenomenon and deserved further exploration. It reminds me of Jacque Tati’s masterwork, ‘Playtime’. It takes place in what was supposed to be modern Paris, but it could have been a slab of concrete and glass anywhere in the world. The only time Paris is referenced is when we see the Eiffel Tower on the reflection from a door opening and then quickly swinging shut.
Describe what your utopia would be.
It’s impossible for a utopia to exist. Humans are not perfect and if we were set loose into a perfect world, we would compromise it to reflect ourselves.
What is next on the horizon for Yueqi Qi? Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on right now?
Right now, I’m working at my first showroom in Shanghai. It’s a great learning experience. We learn many valuable skills at school, but we have to learn how to run a sustainable business on our own. After this showroom I’ll go back to the drawing board and design a new collection. Other than that, I hope this pandemic is stopped as soon as possible with as few casualties as possible. This is a world changing event that we’re all going through and I’m curious what happens on the other side of this nightmare.
interview KATE BISHOP
More to read
