Infant label Windowsen has been busy creating a buzz with undeniably unique and tactile cosmic couture over recent months.
Sensen Lii, the label’s founder, has offered up a weirdly wonderful take on sporty-tech-couture. Lii’s eccentric designs have been favoured by celebrity clientele such as Rita Ora and Priyanka Chopra.
Return to China
After his studies at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts were complete, Lii was hesitant to immediately throw himself into the fashion world. Instead, he took an extended pause, returning to China.
“Around me I had so many friends, they were very quick to launch their own brands,” Lii said. “As soon as they graduated they started collaborating with showrooms, doing shows, going to Milan and Paris. They told me how it felt…Then for various reasons and because of COVID-19, I couldn’t get what I wanted to do done.”Source: Yahoo! News
Curating in 2020
2020 saw Lii spend the entire year working on styling, artist collaborations and costume design. Throughout the pandemic, Lii chose to fill his days with careful curation of both his brand aesthetic and tone.
“I could connect with people who were outside of fashion but still had relevance to my work in fashion… At the second part of 2020, I finally felt ready.”Source: Yahoo! News
Barbie With The Chinese Zodiac
Lii devised a showstopper in the form of his AW21 show. Included were two parts; one part was the Ready To Wear runway show, immediately followed by a seperate couture show.
The Windowsen RTW runway was full of nods to Lii’s imagination of a futuristic world, full of mutated entities. This vision was realised via oversized 3D-printed glasses, PU chest plates and hooded silhouettes with drawstring detailing. Tailored items with include jackets and voluminous dresses were also added to the mix. Lii also reinterpreted his take on mermaid-train skirts, a recurring silhouette from his previous designs.
“The choices represented a blurring of all categories, including gender, culture and borders.”Source: WWD
A deranged Barbie opened up the couture show, inviting audiences into her personal closet. Revealing a host of otherworldly creatures, the included characters were inspired by a contemporary take on the Chinese Zodiac. Models walked the runway in theatrical pieces shaped as insects, a panda and a clown alongside other fantastical appropriations.
“The gowns, enormous layered piles of organza in electro-pop colors, needed so much material to make that Lii said it felt like landscaping because he was shearing them 3D. Oversize, chunky sneaker heels made the models tower far past six feet.”Source: Yahoo! News
Upcoming
Lii will reportedly release a CGI-enhanced film of the collections later this month, which will further explore the universe he has created.
“It’s like ‘Black Mirror.’ Each episode is its own story but underlying it there’s a very strong connecting force.”Source: WWD
For now, check out the Liu-Di art directed intro to the AW21 collection here.
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