Every year, London’s Central Saint Martin hosts the BA Fashion Show, featuring collections from the year’s graduating designers. This year, Chinese designer Xiaoming Shan received special mention at the end of the show for creativity, making it the first time that a designer, aside from the winners, was given recognition in the speaker’s notes. Looking beyond Shan’s bold use of colors and shapes, deeper themes are present in his work, often based on his observations of modern times. “Everyday, you encounter different people, things, and events,” he says. “Even if you’re not consciously aware of it, they become catalysts for inspiration.” For Shan, finding creativity from his life experiences seems to come quite naturally.
Xiaoming Shan毕业于世界最负盛名的的时装设计学院之一的英国中央圣马丁艺术设计学院，今年，他的设计获得了年度毕业秀的特别创意提名。回看他的作品，引人瞩目的不仅仅是他对颜色和图案的大胆运用，背后的设计理念也远超越了这些强烈的视觉元素。他在不同时期的作品也往往带着当下的影子，叙述着当下发生的事。“每天接触到的不同的人，物，事，都会成为日后创作的良药，即使你不会特别留意他们。”在他眼里，一切积累与输出发生得如此自然。
Discussing some of the biggest changes he’s undergone since attending CSM, Shan shares: “I suppose it’s the way I view clothing. I feel like I’m slowly breaking away from this preconceived notion of what clothing can or can’t be, and it’s allowed me the freedom to pursue what feels right to me.” His eccentric and colorful designs are a clear departure from conventional fashion – it’s a visual representation of his understanding of pop culture, style, himself and his relationships. When viewing Shan’s work, perhaps we can temporarily set aside the idea of how certain things “should” be done and learn from how Shan creates what he wants to create.
谈及自己求学期间最大的改变，Xiaoming Shan表示：“看待服装的态度吧，感觉自己慢慢从“服装”这个字眼中走了出来，可以更自由的做你认为对的事情。”他的作品也的确有别于我们一贯理解的服装概念，它们戏剧性的呈现了他对当下流行文化的思考，关于我们对自己风格的取舍，关于本我与他我。也许我们也可以暂时抛下我们认为“应该做”的成见，看看Xiaoming Shan呈现的他“想要做”的。
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供稿人: Shou Xing
Images Courtesy of Xiaoming Shan
