in this collection, except for myself, I also have my grandma and mom as models. We are three generations born in totally different times. women are growing Through generations.I metaphor it as “The Growth of the Trees” So I name grandma’s look as “Virtuous Intermedium”. my mom’s is as“ Naturally Grow” and mine as “Dispersion Principle”.”I think feminism has always been my first first subject matter that I want to convey in my projects. It’s give all women the chance to express themselves through garments regardless of body types and age. I want to be the one supporting any other woman. And I want them to support each other like previous generation supports the next.
"The Growth of the tree", 2021, photo by Zhengyi ZHOU
A photo with all 3 looks, models: my grandma, my mom and myself
"Virtuous Intermedium" from "The Growth of the Tree", 2021, photo by Xiaofeng ZHOU, Zhengyi ZHOU
First look of the collection, for my grandma
"Naturally Grow" from "The Growth of the Tree", 2021, photo by Xiaofeng ZHOU
Second look of the collection, for my mom
"Dispersion Principle" from "The Growth of the Tree", 2021, photo by Zhengyi ZHOU
Third look of the collection for myself
"The Growth of the Tree", 2021, photo by Xiaofeng ZHOU, Zhengyi ZHOU
Some additional photos
Untitled, 2021
Title page and statement page
Untitled, 2021
Fabric swatches, manipulations, illustrations
Untitled, 2021
Illustrations, flats, inspirations, paintings, design pages
Untitled, 2021
Illustrations, flats, inspirations, paintings pages, design pages
Untitled, 2021
process, draping pages
I’m making this collection for the women and girls, especially for the Eastern women where the “feminism” is still a quiet fresh idea. We are still suffering from a lot of equalities. Even somebody has turned the word “feminism” into a very shameless and sarcastic way, for keeping their patriarchy, their dominance and privileges. What I want to express in this collection is that women should be the one define who they wanted to be, they can be beautiful, soft and romantic, they can also be strong and powerful, or they can be both. There are not craziness, but freedom.
Through generations, women are growing. From the mud, then to the sky. So in this collection, I picked out three looks for my grandma, my mother and myself, representing three different times. The look for my grandmother, I name it as “Virtuous Intermedium”. The look for my mom is called “ Naturally Grow”. I call mine “Dispersion Principle”. They are intertwined as “The Growth of the Trees”, which is the name of the collection.
Specifically, I’ve been taking inspiration from historical garments of romantic period and 1920 in China, which are important time frames which also effects us today. I incorporated the silhouettes from these three periods, transform them into crazier ones, non logical, thriving for new, for freedom, for sunshine in humanity and history. I’ve created this contemporary collection for the modern women, women who need an utopian world to express their emotions which have been oppressed by the rest in their life. Started in 1820, developed in 1920, and making it for 2020.
I think feminism has always been my first first subject matter that I want to convey in my projects. The reason that I chose my family to model in this project is because in the fashion industry today, we are still pay too much attention to there super-model type bodies or slim bodies. Women have to be portrayed and observed in a young, beautiful and slim way. These kind of gaze always exist in our daily life. Somebody might think this topic has been brought up for several years. But was that enough? At least I’ve rarely seen small-sized models or elder models. Fashion should be for everyone and every woman. Feminism is definitely not only that, and my purpose of the project is also not only that. This is one simple example that I can give here. I want to give all women the right to express themselves. I want to be the one supporting any other woman. And I want them to support each other. Be the trees. We are once weak, but we can become stronger and supporting others. In the future, I am expecting to discuss more topics in this area.