Kaiwen Shi on turning her childhood fantasies into sartorial realities
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…
NAME KAIWEN SHI
AGE 25
LOCATION China
STAR SIGN Scorpio
BIGGEST PET PEEVE My neighbour playing piano in the morning.
FAVOURITE FILM Blade Runner
They might say don’t look back, the future is always forward, but that doesn’t quite ring true for Kaiwen Shi. In fact, the Chinese designer looks way back, right towards her infancy from the days of dressing up her dolls. “I like to maintain the childish feeling in my work,” she shares. “It makes me feel warm and authentic.”
Joining the monumental Class of 2020 who find themselves in the history books as graduates during a global pandemic, Shi finished her studies at PARSONS last year with an MFA in Fashion Design and Society, preceded by a BA in Fashion Design in Beijing, China. Conjuring the imagination of our guileless, junior selves, Shi’s creations take you on a trip back down the rabbit hole, a return-trip through the wardrobe and into Narnia to be reunited with the giddy playfulness of our youth.
Each garment is underscored with comedic threads, much like the designer’s personality (she’s known for making jokes to her peers in classes). As Shi discusses the surrealist world of her fantasies, I caught up with the postgraduate designer on becoming a cartoonist, garnering an Instagram fan base and cats with weird behaviours, naturally.
Scarlett Baker: Can you remember when you first became interested in fashion?
Kaiwen Shi: When I was four or five, there were some Japanese paper-doll books sold in my town. I became crazy about them, playing all day and night and becoming totally obsessed with those drawn skirts and dresses. Gradually, I started drawing my own paper dolls and wished to have my own clothing shop when I grew up.
SB: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you grew up? Have you always lived in Guangzhou?
KS: My parents brought me from inland China to Guangzhou when I was two-years-old. I grew up in a small coastal city in southern China; it’s a tropical area with a lot of coconut trees and insects. Before going to college, I had always lived in a small town.
SB: What were you like in school?
KS: During my MFA life at Parsons, I was the kind of person who was always telling jokes to classmates from different countries. But I guess as our pressures increased, I became nervous and talked less.
SB: What drew you to studying a Masters there?
KS: When I was in my third year of the BA, I was very impressed by the graduate show of the Parsons MFA class. I was very interested in textile making and the Parsons MFA really matched that. I was quite happy in first year, I had just come to New York and everything seemed so fresh to me. But in second year I felt so nervous because they were going to pick the people who would get to be in the show (Covid didn’t exist at that time).
SB: You reference “childlike mindfulness” as a theme in your work. What prompted you to explore the nostalgia of your childhood?
KS: Personally, I am a designer who always likes to look back when I am looking for inspiration, I like to maintain the childish feeling in my work. It makes me feel warm and authentic.
SB: What was the meaning behind the title of your thesis collection: A trip into the real world fantasy?
KS: All of the looks are from the comic strips I drew, and all of the stories were based on my childhood memories - and actually, most of them are unhappy memories. I recreated the storyline and made them more surreal, that’s why I called it A trip into the real world fantasy.
SB: You describe yourself as a cartoonist - was this something you always wanted to translate into your work? Were you reading comics as a child?
KS: This collection was the first time I looked to my identity as a cartoonist. I’ve loved reading comics since kindergarten, and I dreamed of becoming a cartoonist when I grew up. But a lot of things happened, I found myself isolated from people and I indulged in the comic world. To get back to normal life, I had to keep my distance from the comics, but I know I love it in my heart, and wanted to bring my special comic skills to my thesis collection.
SB: How has life evolved since releasing your graduate collection?
KS: I gained some fans from all over the world on Instagram, and some people really cheered me up during a hard time. I am really grateful for it. There were also some buyers who reached out to me, which made me think about starting a small line in the future.
SB: How did you come to explore embroidery?
KS: Actually, I didn’t use embroidery. I Invented my own beading technique and used a lot of tufting.
SB: What’s one of our favourite memories from your childhood?
KS: The first day my family got a new car, I slept on the top of our car and watched the stars in the sky the whole night.
SB: How would you describe your vision in three words?
KS: Playful, Childlike, Intense.
SB: How would you describe the past year in three words?
KS: Intense, Numb, Confused.
SB: If you could dress anyone, who would it be and why?
KS: Lady Gaga. She is always the queen to me, I would scream if one day she wore my garments.
SB: When you’re not designing, what can we find you doing?
KS: Reading manga, writing a blog or working out.
SB: If you weren't a designer, what else do you think you'd be doing?
KS: Maybe a ceramic artist.
SB: Whose inspiring you right now and why?
KS: As for designers, CHOPOVA LOWENA. I really love their style and the way they produce clothing. They are really doing a lot of sustainable fashion and the outcomes are amazing.
SB: The biggest thing I achieved today was…
KS: To sleep earlier than I did yesterday.
SB: What would your fantasy world look like?
KS: I guess it might look like Yoshitaka Amano’s drawing.
SB: I’m absolutely obsessed with…
KS: Cats with weird behaviors.
SB: If you could go back to being any age when you were younger, how old would you be and why?
KS: 16, without knowing the limit of the world. I was brave at that age and had the power to achieve whatever I wanted.
SB: If the pandemic miraculously ended tomorrow, what would you do first
KS: Go to a club? Lol.