About The Designer
Qixin grew up in an artistic, multicultural and handmade heritage environment where her mother significantly impacted her art pathway. Qixin's mother kept her growing up independently and always taught her to reflect and connect to her inner self, be honest about her own feelings and mistakes, and learn to see people's true hearts. This gave Qixin a deep understanding of the connection between her social identity and her inner self. Qixin said:’I see people's inner soul, which without the social identity and appearance, is the purest and the most honest part of humanity.' It's not only the inner self; Qixin also keeps discovering true peace from the inner world by learning floristry in McQueens London and handcraft skills such as silk couture flowers. She founds her own way of expressing the inner self and connecting the spirit world with nature while designing different flower installations and bouquets. The first sight presented in her graduate collection 'Your Floral Inner self', she said: 'I can feel the flowers flowing in my blood. I believe matchless flowers(true selves) are growing inside our inner world, they might be crazy and shouting, dense and blooming, scarce and falling, but we are born as flowers and becoming it'. Flower and water, the essential elements of floristry, the spirit forms, then became signature design elements of Qixin's later collections.
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Sustainability plays a significant part in Qixin's family education. She organised a sustainable club while she was in primary school and drew 'how to be sustainable' posters by using old newspapers and recycled paper and handing out leaflets to the passing people in parks. Sustainability and a sense of responsibility for the future permeated her future artistic trajectory from a very young age, and this led Qixin to decide to create a sustainable brand after graduating from London Collage of Fashion. She said:' r.l.e aims to shape an entirely new fashion world with an evolutionary essence, ensuring that sustainability is rooted in every corner of the brand identity.
In the brand's early years, Qixin wanted to develop and explore a sustainable cycle production system for r.l.e, maintaining the craftsmanship and design philosophy while contributing to a sustainable future for the fashion industry. In Qixin's graduation essay, she discussed how fashion could be truly sustainable; after graduating, she applied these methods to operating the brand. In r.l.e's production chain, they recycle every cut piece of pattern paper and remake them into brand labels and packaging; they re-create the cut piece fabrics into 3D textile yarns and transform them as knitted fabrics and so on. Qixin believes that sustainability is not just about wearing an organic t-shirt: it must be a way of life.
For the future of the fashion industry, Qixin believes that being sustainable is a definite global trend, and fashion, as the second largest waste industry, must change its operating system. It's not only about using natural or organic fabrics anymore; we have to find our own way to reduce the waste from the root. Qixin is especially interested in 3D print techniques and developing her own ways to combine traditional craftsmanship with 3D print and bring it to her future collections. Moreover, Qixin realised that people are more tend to discover their inner world and spiritual feelings recently. She believes that handmade design and slow fashion will be more precious in the fashion industry,
