Liu Xueyang’s Sartorial Love Letter To Mediocrity
The Central Saint Martins MA graduate distilled eight years of exploring vulnerability into intricate knitwear with hidden messages.
Ethan Atkinson and Ben Butling in Liu Xueyang’s MA collection. (Photo: Pacor Wang)
Liu Xueyang’s collection wasn’t as loud or sensational as those of his peers on the Central Saint Martins MA runway this London Fashion Week. But the 33-year-old knitwear designer isn’t just playing it safe, but dedicating the collection to mediocrity. There lies an inherently tender narrative under the soft, colourful knits that gently cocooned and intertwined with the body.
“I used to think I lived quite a boring life, but after I took a step back, I realised I had so many stories to tell,” said Liu. From the very beginning he envisioned a character who would wear his garments — someone who, just like him, used to think they haven’t achieved much in life and struggles with navigating mediocrity. “These people are the silent and invisible majority of our society, but they usually have the best stories to tell.”
The collection’s title I’m Willing To Say I Love You First embodies the vulnerable process of self acceptance and to eventually “wear our stories with pride.” Hailing from China’s industrial Inner Mongolia, Liu writes his story by reflecting on his past eight years in London, six of which were at his alma mater and the other two in the ateliers of Chopova Lowena and Daniel Fletcher. “This collection is born from my journey shaped by years of experiencing discrimination, making me more sensitive and exposed. Instead of resisting it, I have learned to embrace vulnerability as a strength.”
“If my collection carries the same negative energy I experienced, then I most certainly haven’t reconciled with my past.”
The vibrant hues of purple, red, and blue that run through his collection are testimonials to Liu’s statement. He described these colours as passionate and sincere. “Negative sentiments inspire the garments, but they shouldn’t reflect them,” said Liu. “If my collection carries the same negative energy I experienced, then I most certainly haven’t reconciled with my past.”
To transform this innermost process into garments, Liu improvised a performance art piece in front of a camera. For two hours, he stripped and interacted with two large rolls of fabric, capturing the natural creases and silhouettes he created in the process. “I was fully immersed in that space as the fabrics both exposed and enclosed me,” explained Liu as he went through stills of the performance. “I felt both vulnerable but at the same time free and empowered, a feeling people who wear my garments would resonate with.”
Those silhouettes were combined with another of his performance art, where he took a photo of what he wears every day. Many people post their outfit of the day, but rarely do they consider the meaning behind the outfits beyond the physical appearance. Liu goes deeper by examining the conscious and subconscious cognition behind styling and self expression. “This study demonstrates how sentiments could be reflected on to garments.”
In his previous collection To The Beloved, he also directed a performance piece where he covered himself in paint and embraced a mannequin to mark the traces of intimacy, creating organic geometries that he later incorporated. “That collection was a tribute to people in the past who helped shape who I am, but I’m Willing To Say I Love You First is a documentary of an ongoing exploration.” What he perhaps carried on from his previous collection is the theme of human connection.
The intricately knitted patterns were not randomised, but encrypted with the message “we are all connected” in ASCII binary characters, with 0 representing knit stitches and 1 representing purl stitches in the intarsia design. “In this fast-paced world we process an overwhelming amount of information, so we start to lose the empathy and understanding we build to bond,” said Liu as he reminisced his experiences. “Seemingly we are all individuals but everything we say or do may change someone, positively or negatively, forever.”
All these techniques intertwined into vivid colour palettes, juxtaposing warm, vibrant colours with muted ones, adding depth and movement to the knits. The fabric's ribbed effect replicates skin-on-skin contact, as oversized cardigans draped on the models and trousers swathed around their waists. The asymmetrical jumper naturally folds, simultaneously enveloping and revealing parts of the body, echoing the message the fabrics encrypt.
Ethan Atkinson in Liu Xueyang’s MA collection. (Photo: Anderson Hung)
Behind the scenes, Liu manifests the theme of human connection in places other than the studio. Earlier this year, Liu's mother flew in from China to celebrate Lunar New Year with him. For countless nights in their London living room, the two connected by knitting the collection together (and kneading countless doughs to cook Inner Mongolian delicacies).
In the preliminary stages of making I’m Willing To Say I Love You First, Liu connected with 26-year-old dancer and movement director Ethan Atkinson, whose story became a muse-like character for the collection. Atkinson is also the founder of The Clover Club, a social club dedicated to fill the vacuum of non-clubbing queer, creative events. “Queer creatives who don’t enjoy night outs have stories that are equally as good but no community to share with,” Liu connects Atkinson’s mission to his collection. “I know because I am one of them.”
Another one of Liu’s inspirations was 25-year-old photographer Ben Butling, who’s in a cross-cultural relationship. Liu also opened up with his own romantic experience that fueled his exploration of vulnerability, “relationships like that require courage to overcome the many, many barriers.”
Liu reflected on the process of working with Atkinson and Butling. “In the beginning I drew inspiration from myself, but I saw pieces of myself in Ethan and Ben,” said the designer. “It wasn’t only because they’re good looking or that we share the same height, but the mutual resonance.” These real-life conversations and connections are what made the message behind the collection so genuine.
Liu did prove himself right. The duo were dressed in the collection for a photoshoot and it didn’t take any direction for them to connect in front of the lens as they so naturally embraced, carried, and leaned on each other. The silhouettes of the garments created in the process were almost reminiscent of the performance Liu directed for the collection.
It’s almost safe to say that the audience doesn’t even need to know the message encrypted in the pattern to understand the narrative. “I’m not a fan of bold graphics because people tend to forget what they see easily, but you get to feel the message coded into the fabrics,” explained Liu. “In the future I might not even reveal the message, because people can create new meanings through their own exploration.”
Needless to say Liu’s eight years of designing in London doesn’t stop here. The show wrapped up just before midnight and while most of his peers are likely recovering from afterparty hangovers, Liu returned to the studio early morning. Exploring vulnerability through his MA collection has given birth to new ideas that will fuel a brand new collection, the details of which he chooses not to disclose. Before the world is blessed with another of Liu Xueyang’s runways, find the designer in the college’s library. “My student ID expires on my birthday in April, so I’ll be researching in there until my very last day at Central Saint Martins.”
