Academy of Art University Special – Part 5: Spotlight on Chenxi Li

The Academy of Art University Special continues with Chenxi Li, a student who injected the power of Chinese armors into her knitwear.

Throughout the history of fashion quite a few designers were fascinated by armors and by their empowering, protective and defensive purposes. Academy of Art University student Chenxi Li turned to traditional armors from her native China to find the inspiration for her knitwear pieces, part of the collection she presented at the AAU's School of Fashion showcase during New York Fashion Week.

The history of Chinese armors is quite complicated and includes plated pieces made from turtle shells, protective wear formed by layers of paper derived from the mulberry tree, bronze and leather armors, one-piece breastplates and lamellar cuirasses.

Li reproduced in her jumpers the protective overlapping metal and leather plates by employing thick wool yarns and dense patterns of stitches, then she matched her knitwear with soft fur jackets and rigid tweed garments (in a palette revolving around navy, artic blue and sea green) inspired by the '50s and characterised by exaggerated silhouettes and voluminous shoulders and sleeves.

Can you tell us more about your background?
Chenxi Li: I was born in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, in the middle east of China. I studied in China’s main art school, the Nanjing Arts Institute of China. My Bachelor of Arts Degree was in Animation of Digital Camera Arts. During the first two years, I focused on designing the costumes of my animated characters. It was then that I realized the importance of appearance and how style and clothes have a huge impact on perception.

What's the most important thing you learnt from your years at AAU?
Chenxi Li: I guess the most important things are all the techniques I learned – from basic pattern-making skills to more complicated draping and machine knitting techniques, which are also the main reasons why I came here and pursued my dream.

Who has been the greatest influence on your career choices?
Chenxi Li: My mother, she is a very successful career woman in her field.

How did you feel at showcasing your collection at the Academy of the Arts fashion show?
Chenxi Li: I felt great! It was an amazing opportunity and experience and it brought a lot of visibility.

Is there a designer who inspires you in your work?
Chenxi Li: I always look at fashion history and there are certain contemporary fashion designers who inspire me, such as Alexander McQueen. His design concept and amazing fabric manipulations are great examples that inspire me a lot.

What inspired your collection?
Chenxi Li: The idea behind the collection came from '50s fashion, so I opted for an oversized sihouette, drop shoulder and huge cocooning volumes around the body. I used blueish green, navy and light gray green as my main color palette and opted for fabrics and materials that included fur, tweed, vintage yarns and cashmere yarns. Through the choce of different fabrics and materials I wanted to remind people that traditional designs are still perfectly fashionable and wearable. The main inspiration behind the chunky hand knitted designs came from Chinese traditional armors, this aspect added a more structured and textured edge to the collection and made it more interesting. Employing heavy wool and soft and light fur also allowed me to play with soft and hard principles.

What fascinates about different hand knitted techniques?
Chenxi Li: Machines do not allow you to add the same degree of chunkiness and patterns that you can add by hand and the final feel of the hand knits is amazing. As I said, I opted for yarns that had a vintage quality about them so that they could also somehow evoke the main inspiration behind them, Chinese traditional armors.

Woud you like to work with a knitwear company with one day?
Chenxi Li: Yes, absolutely! I think knitwer is a big trend in today's fashion; in future I would also like to combine woven fabrics and knits.

What plans do you have for the future?
Chenxi Li: I would like to focus on menswear tailoring design and construction in few years's time. For the time being, I'm taking a short break to do some internships and strengthen my experiences. It would be great to be able to build my own fashion company in China – that's my life dream!