10 Questions with Xinyu Zheng

Xinyu, a native of Shanghai and currently based in New York, graduated from the prestigious Fashion Design program at Parsons School of Design. She was recognized by Vogue as one of the "13 Names to Know" from her graduating class. Drawing inspiration from Dadaism, Xinyu's work focuses on the concept of "Found Object," incorporating everyday objects into her designs to create a realistic and natural aesthetic. With a background in the sequin industry through her family's heritage, Xinyu strives to bring a unique perspective to her work in fashion design.

@xiinuuz

ARTIST STATEMENT

Xinyu is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist who frequently draws inspiration from found objects, transforming the world into a type of pictorial memory. She explores the interaction between objects and the human body as a fashion designer. Her work typically entails uncovering items in her environment and expressing them in a primitive and childlike manner.

Object Creature, photography, 2022 © Xinyu Zheng

INTERVIEW

Let's start from the basics. What background and studies helped you develop into the artist you are today?

I think it was my upbringing that influenced me a lot. I've always felt that our whole family is very fashionable. They always influenced my fashion sense, which made me love Chinese fashion from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. I've always found it interesting how the Chinese style has changed, though it's still very conservative, but most importantly, bold. I love the uniqueness of the clothing from the previous eras. Plus, my mom loved to buy vintage in her 20s, and her closet has always contained her sensibility and uniqueness. She never limited her style. She dyed her hair brown and yellow and wore bold colors and waist-hugging styles. I think she hooked me on fashion and fell in love with the feeling of being different from mainstream fashion. My dad loves to collect antiques. His collection, like ancient vases, photo albums, and beautiful wrapping paper, inspires me. He would often pull out his collection and tell me the story of how he acquired it and the stories associated with it. I think he made me feel so profoundly about found objects. These objects are not just "useful" in this world. I used my objects and stories as a starting point for inspiration in my later work. My parent's nostalgically rebellious taste for art influenced me to become who I am.

You come from a family that works in fashion. How much did this influence your choice of pursuing this career?

I can say that I am lucky that my parents run the sequin company together, and they are the ones who got me interested in clothing. Not only do they work with many different manufacturers, like embroidery factories, but they also work with many independent fashion designers. While working together, they often involved me in the design process, helping to conceptualize and implement ideas later. From time to time, they would go to different exhibitions, involve me in all the curatorial planning, and put me in charge of the overall design. In the process of following their exhibitions, I got to know a lot of different fabric vendors. Because they had little knowledge and resources about the industry, they believed in the future outlook of garments. They gave me a lot of support during the learning process later on, which saved me a lot of trouble finding and producing garment materials.

What other influences moved you in this direction? In other words, when did you realize you wanted to be an artist and designer?

I have always considered myself playful and curious. Drawing instances in my memories as static pictures, I express my love for nature and life. Being an artist and designer is a great way to express my desire to share. I never stop experimenting, and I think my experiences and experiences can be transformed into new inspirations to create new and exciting things. Just like I will record the sound of the maple leaves I stepped on today and the marks I made on the soles of my shoes and the road. In addition, I never stop learning new and different things. I love trying different things, whether it's sports or crafts. After everything I've been involved in, I've discovered something new and surprising. Like cooking, for example, there's something magical about how a dish is put together and presented. It's like the different and exciting way clothes are presented on various occasions and scenarios. Being an artist and designer is a great way to express my desire to share.

You are originally from China but moved to New York to study at Parsons School of Design, earning a Vogue mention as one of the "13 Names to Know" from your graduating class. How do you think moving to New York influenced your art and yourself as a person?

New York has felt incredibly more diverse than my home town Shanghai, China. I have experienced many new things during my four years of study. I have observed and recorded many exciting things in the city and met people from different countries. I also have seen the diversity of designs made by people in the school with distinct cultural differences. For my latest collection, I was inspired by life in New York. I walked around the city and felt that the windows of the New York houses were the most intuitive place for me to understand the life of New Yorkers. Whenever I walk through the streets of New York, I always carefully observe decorated window sills, each being like a storyboard or a theater. There always seems to be something interesting waiting for me to discover. I draw the stories in the windows of my imagination, abstracting "object creatures," and then express the creatures I create in the form of garments.

In your work, you often use found objects and refer to Dadaism. Why did you choose Dada specifically? And what does this movement represent for you?

I like the idea of Dadaism, I understand it as the denial of established beauty, and I have always wanted to make something that breaks away from the uniform aesthetic of the market, something unique. I like the idea of what they call disruption, challenge, and breakthrough. Many of my work starts from minor details in life, and some are randomly created by chance.

What messages do you want to convey with your work?

I want to convey positivity. I want my audience to be inspired by my work, to find something interesting in life, to become more self-absorbed, and to love life. Most of my pieces are straightforward, inspired by the small discoveries I make daily. A fallen leaf, a rotten apple, or a shadow can be my inspiration, my muse.

If you could implement anything or introduce any new concept or style in your work, what would you like to experiment with?

I've always been interested in ethnic minorities of China, especially the Lisu people who live in the high plateaus of southwest China, and I loved how they use nature as inspiration. They are deep in the mountains and use the birds in the mountains as color, local flowers and plants as patterns, and products of nature as accessories, like shells and pearls. I also want to use everyday objects in life as materials, making patterns by using chairs, sofas, vases, and books as accessories. In addition, I would love to try to make something new and vintage with sequins in the same way, trying to break everyone's inherent impression of sequins.

As a fashion designer yourself, what do you think of the current state of the fashion world? Where do you think it is headed, and what should we expect in the future?

I don't think fashion can be defined in a few words, and the fashion industry has become more extensive and diverse. I feel I am still doing the process of exploring.

Speaking of the future, what are you working on now? Do you have any new projects or collections you are developing?

For this year, I do not have a very stable idea or plan for the direction of my brand. I am working on my collection because I want to do more experimentation. Photos of my grandmother in the room inspired my following collection. Her photos reminded me of Rayograph from Man Ray, a dadaist. He placed the objects on light-sensitive paper and exposed them to light to make photographs. The objects are assembled randomly and left in a shadowy imprint, as if my grandmother had been placed in a random photo of a room, in a mute pose, with a kind of nonsensical amusement. Besides, I'm also working with a friend on a pet brand, trying to create something different from the usual designer clothes on the market. My collections should be released in the second half of the year.

And lastly, where can our readers find your work? Do you have any publications or fashion shows coming up?

I'm only running my Instagram account at the moment. Currently, I have a few stylists and photographers I'm working with, and I should be posting new editorial shoots in the coming months. everything will be updated on @xiinuuz. And my friend and I are working with a pet brand planning a pop-up event in May in New York.

Related Interviews