Class of 2021: Here’s why this LCF grad doesn’t believe fashion can be ‘studied’
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
For Cici Zhang, fashion is a form of the most personal self-expression. And for her graduate collection, she visualised a spiritual world in which Mother Nature lent a hand to form the flowering, organic shapes that came to symbolise her inner self.
Courtesy of @cczhanggg
NAME QIXIN (CICI) ZHANG
AGE 22
LOCATION London, England
COURSE BA Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear
UNIVERSITY London College of Fashion
DESCRIBE YOUR DEGREE IN THREE WORDS Challenge, Passion, Adventure.
Jeffrey Thomson: Hey Cici, tell us about your final collection. What was the inspiration behind it?
Cici Zhang: It’s a way of discovering and feeling the true self. The colours and shapes of mother nature have always inspired me since childhood - the flowing lines and irregular forms cured my heart and I can feel the flowers flowing in my blood. Therefore, I decided to visualise my spiritual world as my final collection. The holes, as one of the key elements, is likened to the cave’s mouth, seeing through one’s inner self and entering their spiritual world after taking off their social identities.
JT: How did you find your time at the LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION? What was the experience like - was it what you expected or completely different?
CZ: I have to admit that it has been quite a different experience than I initially expected, but it was still a fancy adventure. I appreciate that our college provided us with a lot of useful resources like the library, creative activities, competitions, collaborations and internship opportunities. Working with different people and teams, I've gained many significant experiences and skills that helped me do better in projects and collections. I would say LCF taught me the balance of combining imagination with pragmatism.
JT: Did you always know you wanted to study here? What was your journey to LCF like?
CZ: It’s interesting to look back on my life - I began to have the idea of being a fashion designer since I was in primary school and it never changed. Before I came to the UK, I wanted to go to Paris to study. By chance, I was selected by my school for a language exchange program in Cambridge, which became my first journey to the UK. I fell in love with the English style and culture here, so I changed my mind. I did my high school in Oxford and then I came to UAL.
“Fashion cannot be 'studied', it is an embodiment of a spiritual form. We learn in school how to use professional skills and processes to present what we call fashion.”
JT: When looking back on your first project and now to your final collection, what springs to mind?
CZ: It's like seeing the butterflies emerge from their cocoon. My first design-related collection was made while I was in UAL's foundation course, it was very childish and immature. At that time, I was still on the way to finding my own drawing style and design philosophy. I never took any formal drawing classes because I grew up being someone who didn't want to be tied down by any definition. However, good things and bad things always come together. When I started drawing my own fashion illustrations, it took me more time to become familiar with the differences in body proportions and brush strokes and finding my own styles. Illustrations have been a significant part of my design process, as many silhouettes are inspired from my illustrations.
JT: What's the biggest misconception about studying fashion?
CZ: I think there are so many different misunderstandings and understandings about 'studying' fashion. First of all, I think that fashion cannot be 'studied', it is an embodiment of a spiritual form. We learn in school how to use professional skills and processes to present what we call fashion and how to visualise our ideas and combine them with reality to create the final outcomes.
JT: If you could go back, would you have done anything differently?
CZ: I usually want to, but I won't. A presentation of a collection is about design, making, time and effort. It's a recording of the whole journey - every little detail formed the amazing work. Of course, if I had more time, I believe I would have done better, but you never can do anything about something that has happened. So I won't think about if I can do anything different from the past, I think I will work harder for the things coming in the future.
JT: The best thing about studying in London? And the worst?
CZ: I'm lucky that London is an open, cultural city - we meet a lot of people from different cultural backgrounds and with different knowledge. The lifestyle and the people here are very tender and lovely. And I like the rainy weather? Haha! Also I have two lovely cats, it's a very pet friendly country. The worst.. maybe it's too far from my hometown.
JT: When you're rushing towards a deadline, what keeps you going?
CZ: It is the 'want' of seeing the final outcome stepping out of my illustration, because for me every design is like a little dream. Making a collection is like seeing a dream come true. I enjoy racing to the deadline, even if it's a challenging journey.
JT: How are you celebrating post-graduation life?
CZ: It is a shame that I didn’t have enough time to celebrate it, I am working non-stop on my next collection and preparing for the launch of my brand. I have also been busy developing and making new pieces. But yeah, I think I definitely will make a celebratory journey abroad after the Covid restrictions.
JT: What's next for Cici?
CZ: I'm currently preparing my brand and plan to launch in February 2022 at New York Fashion Week, presenting a completely new and sustainable concept. From a more personal aspect, it's always good to develop more skills in different areas, and I plan to go for a five-week course at McQueen’s flower school. By learning more about flowers and combining it with fashion design, I believe it will lead me on to a better design journey.
JT: And lastly, what does fashion mean to you?
CZ: Some people may think that fashion is all about shiny and flashy things, but I think fashion is open to so many definitions and styles that the only thing that I think fashion can be defined by is that it will always be the medium that best represents the true self. Like I said, nothing can be easily defined, and one day if I want, I can call my sofa 'fashion'. It is a spirit, a force, a power that encourages the advancement of our whole society.
See more from Check-Out’s Class of 2021 here.