Waiting in your assigned spot at Fashion Week for the show that is sure to run late is an incomparable feeling, as is the rush of the 15-minute show run. But sometimes you just wish you knew what goes on behind the scenes before the models take to the catwalk. We wanted to experience the pre-show feeling for ourselves and mingled with the people backstage at Shuting Qiu’s spring/summer show at Paris Fashion Week. Between suitcases of make-up, last-minute embroidery, good-humored models and delicate garments, we not only gained an understanding of how beautiful and stressful the preparations for a catwalk are, but also got to know the label of the up-and-coming Chinese designer from a whole new perspective.
Almost 30 different looks, four clothes rails, around two dozen models and less than 20 square meters of space for changing and styling: that’s what it looks like backstage at Shuting Qiu’s spring/summer show at Paris Fashion Week at the Theatre L’Odéon. And yet everyone finds their way around. The fact that more and more photographers are turning up to capture the unique backstage atmosphere doesn’t seem to bother anyone either. On the contrary: the models, whose hair, make-up and outfits are just right, take the opportunity to pose in the flash. Instagram accounts are exchanged lively. After all, stylists, make-up artists, models and photographers are in the perfect bubble to make valuable contacts for future creative projects. The show brings together people from all corners of the world, but they all speak the same language: creativity. And English, of course, because even in Paris, fluent French is the exception rather than the rule.
“I often have to change in front of strangers, it doesn’t feel weird anymore,” says a model, laughing as she slips into one of two looks the Chinese designer has chosen for her. In fact, shame and shyness are out of place when moving around the historic building, where preparations for the show are in full swing. The Odéon is actually a sprawling building. But as spacious as the staircases are, the two areas for hair and make-up and for fitting are just as cramped. A good hour before the show, most of the models are still sitting in the make-up area, snacking, drinking a Coke and scrolling through social media. On the wall are photos of the individual looks with instructions on which hairstyle and make-up to do. One floor above the room, which is overflowing with hairspray, lipstick and the like, is the small, cordoned-off area where the finished looks hang on the pole. At fashion shows, you never quite seem to know when a look is really finished. A stylist calmly sews beads onto a pair of high heels at the very last minute. What would make normal mortals hyperventilate, everyone here takes calmly. The designer herself takes one last look at the outfits and then lets her trusted team of stylists get to work.
Gentle rebellion
The playful femininity that has made Shuting Qiu’s label so recognizable since the beginning is also omnipresent this season. Flowers, wild prints and bright colors promise a good mood – a trend that is also visible in the spring/summer collections of other brands. Fashion is a mirror of our collective state of mind. And since the world is gloomy, the fashion world provides us with colors and playfulness to lift our spirits. “Tender Rebellion” is the name of Shuting Qiu’s spring/summer collection. And that’s how the designer’s entire oeuvre feels. Gentle at first glance; the rebellion comes through on closer inspection. Sustainability is close to Qiu’s heart. “Over 60 percent of the materials used are deadstock, including in this new collection,” says the designer after the show. It is also important to her not to let traditional crafts die out. Embroidery, silk and lace have therefore always been among the hallmarks of her pieces. To achieve this, she works with local artists – whether from her home city of Hangzhou or on trips around the world. “That’s another way to be sustainable. Otherwise traditional crafts will be lost more and more,” she says.
“Fashion is my language for expressing myself and my ideas.”
The very first inspiration for the current collection came from the designer’s childhood memories. “I thought of my hometown, the embroidery and silk. Then I mixed different fabrics and patterns and also wanted to combine feminine and masculine elements,” says Qiu. The masculine elements can be found in strongly cut blazers, which are always styled in contrast with feminine details. The color palette covers almost the entire rainbow, but there is also room for some black and white looks. It is this spring/summer collection that once again reinforces Shuting Qiu’s trademark. Bows can be found in playful oversized sizes on the one hand and as filigree details on the other. She skillfully mixes current trends with her own aesthetic: she decorates leggings in the controversial Capri length with ruffles. Nylon stockings go over the knee and are light blue or pink, while elegant, elbow-length gloves come in bright colors and eye-catching prints. Shuting Qiu also caters to shoe fanatics. Just as delicate and elaborate as the garments, they complete every look. Bows, fringes, beads, check patterns: the entire DNA of the collection has been translated into the footwear.
Qiu cites painting as a further inspiration: “Even as a child, I loved to paint. And I loved clothes and materials.” Painting is still part of the process of creating a collection today. And it takes four to five months before a collection can be presented. Research turns into concrete sketches and collages. Prototypes are made of the first designs, which are then styled and adapted. “In the beginning, we always have many more pieces than end up in the collection,” says Qiu. Simplified, commercialized versions of the catwalk looks will be available to buy. The designer herself is already wearing one of these: Her beige coat is missing the eye-catching embroidered flower that was seen on the runway.
From Hangzhou to Antwerp
This is the second time that Shuting Qiu has presented a collection at Paris Fashion Week. An accolade in the fashion world. A hard-earned one for Qiu, as she has already traveled to almost all other fashion capitals. In 2018, shortly after completing her master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and founding her label, she showed for the first time at New York Fashion Week. From 2020, she was a permanent fixture at Milan Fashion Week, followed by her debut in Paris last year. What sounds like the perfect career – she was named best student by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp – is the result of hard work, including the odd bout of self-doubt. “Let’s take things a little slower,” says Qiu when asked what she would like to change about the fashion industry. It was also difficult to find a middle ground for herself: “In Antwerp, everything was very artistic, and somehow I had to find a way for my label to be a little more commercial,” she says. If she had to give advice to other aspiring designers, she would keep it simple: “Be really ambitious. It’s difficult, stressful, fast and you always need inspiration”. Shuting Qiu has this, as she proves anew with every collection.
You can see the designer’s relief after the show. “I’m still excited, but less stressed. It’s exciting to show the collection to so many different people,” says Qiu a few minutes after briefly appearing on the catwalk to applause. She knows what she’s talking about. Because even though she is still deeply rooted in her Chinese homeland, her work resonates with the international. Her own style has long been strongly inspired by the iconic Antwerp Six – Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene and Marina Yee – which is also thanks to her studies in the Belgian metropolis. Van Beirendonck was even one of her professors there. “He was my mentor. They all had a strong influence on me during my time in Antwerp. I wore a lot of Dries Van Noten and Margiela back then, but now of course I prefer to wear my own label,” says Qiu and laughs. She also loves finding inspiration when traveling and coming up with new ideas in foreign cultures: “Fashion is my language for expressing myself and my ideas.” With “Tender Rebellion”, she has once again proven that this language is universally understandable.
Shuting Qiu
From Hangzhou in China to Antwerp and Paris: Shuting Qiu has secured herself a place at the most important fashion weeks in just a few years. After completing her master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 2018, she founded her eponymous label and launched her first shows at New York Fashion Week. Shortly afterwards, she switched to Milan Fashion Week and has already shown twice in Paris. However, she still spends a large part of her time either at home in Shanghai or traveling in order to draw inspiration from as many different cultures as possible. Shuting Qiu values recycled materials and deadstock and promotes traditional crafts by local artists.
shuting-qiu.com
Does your closet need color? You’ll find it at Shuting Qiu.
Josefine Zürcher
Incidentally, many beautiful fabrics come from Switzerland: we visited the embroidery company Forster Willi.
