Backstage at the 2010 London Fashion Week, a young man concentrated single-mindedly on bringing out the best in his design, making final touches to a dress before the model strutted out onto the catwalk.
Chen Shao-yen, 28, a graduate student at Central St. Martins College of Art & Design and a rising star in international fashion design, hails from Yilan in northeastern Taiwan. He captured the grand prize at the Brussels-based academic competition Weekend le Vif in April 2009, beating out finalists from prestigious design schools around Europe.
Chen has achieved recognition within European haute couture for his “Waver” series integrating linear patterns from 1960s French street carnivals, traditional Japanese “ukiyoe” graphic art and seascapes in his native Yilan, as well as “Body as Clothes,” which eliminates the boundaries between clothing and the human body.
The joy of designing knitwear has kept the artist dedicated over the last seven years. With solid training in metalwork at Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School before taking on fashion, Chen was well equipped for knitwear design, a subject requiring attention to details. “What I enjoy the most is knitwear’s ‘organic’ quality. Unlike other types of textile design, in which a full piece of cloth is already in place at the beginning, the knitwear design process essentially has to start from scratch by choosing the material to knit and deciding on the patterns to make. It relies on extensive experimentation before a dress is completed,” said Chen in an interview with Taiwan Today April 19.
“Waver” is a set of dresses in pure white, with fluffy waves of rough nylon twine turned into soft delicate lines, varyingly attached to the arms or midriff of a dress. In Taiwan, the twine is commonly used in traditional markets and factories to tie up poultry or secure parcels. No one would have imagined blending it gracefully into high fashion—except Chen.
The young designer’s experimental spirit reaches beyond the use of knitting materials. Before putting his recent ideas into practice, he researched a wide range of art. “Fashion is a constantly changing thing, and drawing inspiration from a single field is not going to work,” Chen said. “Only by creating what’s un-thought of, based on diversified sources, can a designer really stand out.”
Chen delved particularly into the works of 19th century French sculptor Auguste Rodin and his trademark “unfinished sculptures,” sculpted figures with rough edges or even missing certain body parts. The young designer also printed out each and every image of a sequence in “Blonde Venus,” a 1932 film by Josef von Sternberg. For Chen, the way Marlene Dietrich plays with her fur coat is fascinating, not so much because of her beauty, but because of how the fur coat can create such flowing lines as it moves along with the actress. Based on these sources of inspiration, Chen worked to present contours of the human figure differing from the body’s original look.
In “Body as Clothes,” the designer focused on blurring the boundaries between the body and clothing. The six-piece series consists of garments made of rough knitwear upper parts and silk-like jersey lower parts. When worn, the two materials fit the body in flowing and snug sections, respectively.
Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo inspired Chen to create the series. “Kawakubo has been an important model to me. Her concept of ‘body meets dress, dress meets body and the two become one’ encouraged me to explore the limits of fashion design,” Chen said. “I hope to present a different type of fashion, in which clothes are no longer clothes, but become an essential part of the body.”
The designer said while he has been attentive to detail when making clothes, he enjoys seeing his designs presented in the grand scale of a show even more. “My sense of achievement comes from the sight of models wearing the clothes I designed on the stage. It is then I know all my efforts to incorporate details have materialized,” said Chen.
“I always have a passionate feeling for the sensations created by the combination of fashion elements on the stage, such as music, lighting and cosmetics, in addition to the garments themselves.”
Chen has interned with well-known designers such as Clare Tough and the late Alexander McQueen, and noted that his trainee experience with British-Turkish designer Hussein Chalayan between August 2006 and February 2007 has been the most inspiring. Through working closely with Chalayan for two fashion seasons, Chen came to realize more clearly what he would like to do in terms of presenting his own fashion wear.
“Each and every one of Chalayan’s shows has a strong central idea, such as the combination of architecture and apparel, or a mobile presentation of the history of clothing,” Chen said. “I hope to have themed shows of my own in the future, giving new meaning to fashion as art.”
Chen already has the subject of his next series in mind—human anatomy, to serve as a prequel to “Body as Clothes.” He also hopes to present his future works in a theatrical form, rather than as just a plain display of attire on the catwalk.
The design team for American alternative diva Lady Gaga was in touch with Chen in early March, inquiring about potential collaboration. Her presentations of music in combination with theatrical elements may well be a good channel for Chen to try out his ideas on combining fashion with theater.
Before that happens, Chen plans to put down roots in London, where artists like him can more easily win funding to start a fashion business. Selling ready-to-wear garments will help build his reputation and financial base for staging his designs in solo shows.
“I have been studying fashion at school for a long time. In fact, I’m beginning to feel it’s been too long. I can’t wait to join the real world.” (THN)
Write to Tien-ying Hsu at: tyhsu@mail.gio.gov.tw