As a butterfly chasing the sun is a theme of Shuting Qiu’s Spring Summer 2023 collections customarily applaud daring romanticism and are often an invitation to explore the world of a chromatic artist. Her Spring/Summer 2023 Collection sifts into the colorful and technical works of Bernard Frize.
Bernard Frize is a French painter with a renowned reputation as both formally consistent and technically innovative. With work that is highly process-oriented, often requiring unconventional tools and materials, he unites aspects of minimalism, abstract expressionism, and color field painting, producing experimental canvases that often feature vivid, interlocking forms.
Frize approaches his paintings with strict, near-mechanical processes and palettes; the artist is interested in the intersection of rigid systems and intrusions of chance.
SHUTING QIU dares with asymmetry and experimentation in silhouettes, a rigorous and original approach to fabrics, intricate embroideries, and juxtapositions of linear and floral prints. Her play on textures and prints, mixing simplicity with complexity, echoes the work discipline of the French artist.
Frize’s experimentation on lines – definition and abstract (with their complexity of color, facture, width, and intersection) – deeply shaped the inception of the SHUTING QIU Spring/Summer 2023 Collection.
The embroideries and fabric applications closely reference Frize’s abstract and blurred lines. Fringes, a novelty for SHUTING QIU, allow reproduction of the irregular mix of wide brushstrokes with precise and rigid lines in the painter’s work, while creating layers of dimensional depth to her iconic striped patterns.
Frize views painting as a search for an agreement between “nature”, a viewer and a flat surface. Shuting mimics that viewpoint in her collection; her technical exercises capture the attention while she introduces nature with the frame of a dreamy spring garden.
The collection, in a color palette of light green, light blue and pinks, expands on the designer’s signature tailoring to incorporate sportwear and swimwear. The designer collaborated with Swarovski in reusing leftovers crystals and stones to create flower and butterfly shaped bright sequin embroideries and embellish garments and accessories such as a new playful flower shaped bags with colorful beads. In a new take on her ongoing collaboration with UGGS, the classic boot is now wedged with an ombre sole, decorated with gradient-dyed faux fur, and embellished with artisanally crafted floral beads (inspired by her hometown of Hangzhou).
Merging modern art (experiments with new textures, dimensions, and bold color) with traditional craftsmanship (handcrafted fabrics, layering, embroidery and beading), Shuting Qui pays homage to Bernard Frize’s “abstract expressionism and color field painting” while continuing to celebrate playful romanticism, color and craftmanship.
About Shuting Qiu Spring Summer 2023 Show:
SHUTING QIU showed on the official Milan Fashion Week calendar for 5 consecutive seasons. Due to travel restrictions in place in China and a call to focus on a strong local market, she had to favor physical shows in Shanghai and digital releases during the pandemic. This collection marks her first time traveling outside of China since 2019 and her return to the Milan Official Calendar.
Shuting Qiu – Sustainability:
The SHUTING QIU Spring/Summer 2023 Collection upholds the brand’s quest for a more environmentally sustainable fashion. Dead stock fabrics make for 75% of the collection and 100% of the production is done locally in Hangzhou and Shanghai by craftsmen and artisans.
About Shuting Qiu:
Shuting Qiu graduated with an MA and BA in Fashion from the Royal Academy in Antwerp.
The brand conveys a signature sense of femininity that features a “modern romantic” woman, powerful and independent while maintaining her soft identity. The SHUTING QIU woman dares to express herself with asymmetry and experimentation in silhouettes, often resulting in rich contrasting colors of silk jacquards, intricate embroideries, and juxtapositions of linear and floral prints.
Currently based in Shanghai, the Chinese-born designer constantly finds inspiration in art, literature, cinema and travel. Shuting’s creations pay homage to the free, romantic and neurotic spirit of heroines such as Virginia Woolf and Pina Bausch.
Shuting Qiu won VFiles Runway 10, was a finalist for the inaugural BoF China Prize 2019, won the Special Prize at the BIG Design Award Japan, was a finalist of the H&M Design Award 2020, was selected within the Arise Fashion Week international new talents, was invited by Vogue Talents to join the World of Vogue Talents, was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize 2021 and most recently was included in the 10 designers to watch by Fashion Asia Hong Kong.
SHUTING QIU is sold at Browns, Joyce, SKP-S, Labelhood, SSENSE, Farfetch and Net-a Porter.
All images courtesy of Shuting Qiu
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