Yiqing Yin: "I can't imagine a calibrated clothing for Instagram"<

A ballerina's profile dressed entirely in black, long jet-black hair, sharp eyes, Yiqing Yin resembles a sketch captured with a brushstroke in Indian ink, in the manner of a a Zhang Daqian. A sketch. Everything about her evokes grace, mastery and determination.

Born in Beijing in 1985, this haute couture designer left China at the age of 4, traveled a lot with her antique dealer parents, before her family moved to Paris, where she grew up. “They transmitted to me the taste for beautiful objects, witnesses of an era as much as of a personal story. I see fashion the same way.” It was while discovering Yohji Yamamoto's "Just Clothes" exhibition that Yiqing Yin - then a student at the School of Decorative Arts in the sculpture section - decided to become a fashion designer in 2005. , I rather dreamed of designing objects that embellish life and everyday life. Yohji's approach to creating identity clothing overwhelmed me with meaning. Suddenly, fashion appeared to me as a primary habitat for the body, the mind, the personality.”

In video, the Yohji Yamamoto spring-summer 2020 show

Dreamlike fashion

At only 25 years old, Yiqing Yin decided to embark on haute couture by creating his house. A courageous choice, which already marks his fierce desire for freedom. "It's not the easy way to be independent: you combine responsibilities and problems, but I do a job of passion."

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From then on, everything will go very quickly. Winner of the Andam First Collections Prize in 2011, she entered the big leagues and paraded for the first time during haute couture week the following year. Immediate critical success. His dreamlike, architectural, cinematographic fashion strikes the imagination. She excels in games of tension between rigid or vaporous materials, pleated or untied, second skin or protective shell, drawing the silhouette of a woman who is both warlike and vulnerable. “My name in Chinese means 'the passage from bad weather to good weather'. I like contrasts.”

Explorer

His workshop is his research laboratory. She works like a sculptor who sublimates the look. “I can't imagine an Instagram-calibrated garment that's one-dimensional, just pretty from the front. I sculpt the body in 3D, intuitively, directly on the Stockman. A garment must be thought out in its entirety, especially taking care of the sides. Never straight seams. I prefer the diagonals, the arabesques, the bias, it frees the movement. Clothing should be a tool for the emancipation of body and mind.”

Renowned for its haute couture, Yiqing Yin also works for ready-to-wear. After being at the helm of Leonard and Poiret, she is now a freelance artistic director for Chinese brands. “In this exercise, I put myself at the service of women and their individual expression. For haute couture, it's a different approach: research work on materials, volumes, sculptural expression with inspirations that are more visual and sensory shock. I like to alternate between these territories. Switch from the real to the imaginary.

The designer has always explored beyond the frames. She has collaborated with artists, worked for the cinema, designed costumes for ballets at the Opera… Yiqing Yin is also the ambassador of the Égérie collection by Vacheron Constantin, which weaves a link between fine watchmaking and haute couture. “I admire the work of these artisans who create exceptional timepieces. We share a love of the authentic, the rare, the emotion, the handmade, a quest for beauty, excellence and innovation. There are many parallels between our professions. The project for a new watch took years to complete. I like this idea that it takes time to arrive at a moment of grace. Today, it is urgent to waste time to gain meaning, to rework for the beauty of the gesture. This is particularly necessary in my job.”

Redefining luxury

The Covid-19 pandemic has only accelerated his awareness of the flaws in an industry obsessed with novelties. Like many designers, Yiqing Yin dreams of a different future for fashion. “The confinement was a time of rest to find myself, to reinspire myself. In an industry like fashion, made of noise, pressure, with time-consuming creation cycles, the biggest challenge is to stay anchored in your beliefs, true to yourself and to resist the call of always more and faster. The risk if not? Losing one's way and above all becoming repetitive or interchangeable. We have to stop thinking that a designer can conceive exceptional projects every three months... This crisis allows us to give meaning to our work, to redefine luxury. We must be at the service of people to make their lives more beautiful, not to push them to consume in a neurotic way with the illusion of being richer while they are impoverished by consuming badly.

The designer, mother of a 2-year-old daughter, now wants to follow her own schedule. “I work at my own pace on an exceptional collection with innovative artists and artisans. It will see the light of day when it is completed. I aspire to create less but better.”

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