The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2019 - Issue 26

bite fashion T he FW19 collection from Paris-based Chinese designer, Alianna Liu, is entirely inspired by an encounter with a jelly- fish bloom at a time she was surfing and expresses through the prints, colour palette, and patterns in her designs. “I’ve always been drawn to the art form of nature,” said the designer about the inspiration behind her latest work. “Last summer, I spent most of my time at the beach right before I got the idea about this collection.” “One day, at noon-time, the sun was beating down. I was in the middle of the sea, relaxing on the [surf] board, away from everything else. The azure sky was there, upon the calm, green sea. It was almost as perfect as a painting. Then I saw a jellyfish bloom right beneath me. This transparent little creature was moving around and had tentacles hanging down. I had this feeling of fear. I know some have tentacles that can stretch two metres, and some are as small as a thumbnail. But I couldn’t keep my eyes off its beautiful movements.” The FW19 collection is colourful, mature, vivid, and feminine. The electric, ungodly alien inspired the motifs of the collection. The prints derive from the pictures remembered in dreams, following the experience of the bloom, and hand-drawn by the designer. “At once these exquisite life forms are elegant and mysterious.” The hand-stitched mate- rials highlight the pieces with swirling patterns in different shades of blue. Starting her label only a year ago, straight after grad- uation from business school and having had several banking experiences, Alianna wanted to do some- thing she was passionate about so she decided to go back to fashion school and start from scratch. It took a lot of courage and patience to create this new path for herself and everything she did in her past has led her to a place where she is one step closer to the goals she wants to achieve. Since she was a little girl, Alianna wanted to become a fashion designer and was good at drawing and creating beautiful clothes in an excellent way that expressed her perspective about life. To this creative, fashion is an attitude in physical form. Being original and unique matters to her as a fashion designer. As fashion in Paris is famous for being chic and elegant, it’s one unique place in the world that cannot be replicable. No matter how changeable the fashion trends are, Parisians’ dressing code can never be out of style. The best perk of being a fashion designer and having her own label means making decisions that present what she wants to display. To Alianna, it is satisfying to see a final piece hanging on a rack. The results that come after all the detailed orientating hard work is also enjoyable. Her design signature would be a fun attitude, and the first article of clothing she made was a white denim jacket with a colour- ful lining. After the construction of a piece is done the designer goes over it many times in her head and will some- times retouch them with any new inspirations. Her biggest accomplishment as a fashion designer was to see her collection completed and shown live. The first time she saw someone wear her dress and walk past her in the street, she said it felt awesome. She believes a good quality article of clothing is all about paying attention to detail. Inspired by Yves Saint Laurent, she remarked that he was so talented and so ahead of his time. The designer likes to dress women with attitude and who want to be different. She also likes her models to be the same; girls with attitude who have humour and wish to have fun. The celebrities she would love to dress are Jennifer Lawrence and Keira Knightley. “Also, Mila Kunis would be stunning in my collec- tions,” she added. “And FayeWong, for me she’s an ultimate fashion icon in China.” When preparing for fashion shows, Alianna says the whole ambience is in her head, from the moment the drawings are made. Once she puts the entire collec- tion together she knows what she wants in terms of the hair and make-up. Along with her team, she starts the castings, looking for diversity and attitude in the models. She revealed when she sees a girl, she immediately knows if she is suitable for her collec- tion and which outfit. The designer likes both sketching and constructing. Once she gets an idea in her head, she would imme- diately sketch as she doesn’t want them to slip away. She added that the process of constructing also brings her new ideas. What Alianna likes best about designing clothes is that she can see part of her ideas become real. Her fashion goals are to be able to communicate her passion to her clients, and for the brand Alianna Liu to become present worldwide. When it comes to colours the designer likes to work with different hues as she doesn’t have a particular favourite colour and therefore likes all colours. Her favourite fabric to work with is satin because of the smooth and natural shine of the fabric. The advice she would give to aspiring fashion designers is to have faith in their work, lots of patience and focus, and not to be influenced by what the others say. www.aliannaliu.com