Meet Lishan

I met Lishan a few years back at dressmaking class, before she went abroad to pursue a course in Apparel Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. Back then, she was already sketching gorgeous fashion illustrations and coming up with creative ideas for the pieces that she was going to sew in class. Last year, Lishan visited us at dressmaking class again. The two years into her course at Rhode Island School of Design had unleashed her potential in apparel design. Showing us her portfolio of design and sketches while we ooohh-ed and aaah-ed, her works truly took our breath away. And that's why, I decided that we had to feature Lishan (and her works) on thefword, because we really want to share our excitement about this budding (she's only 21!) and talented designer (who is definitely going to make it in the fashion world someday).

Read more about the email interview with Lishan below.

What do you like best about the course you're currently pursuing?
I love Three Dimensional work and Apparel Design gives me the opportunity to create structures
and forms that transform and flatter the body. What I like best about apparel design is that I am
still able to play with geometry and hard edges, like an architect, but use fabric to create my
vision rather than be restricted to building materials.

What would you be doing if you weren't pursuing this degree?
If I wasn’t pursuing this degree, I might have possibly been doing english literature and I had a
choice to do that in Boston University. But as it is, I think that pursuing this degree was the right
choice for me.

Tell us a bit about your aesthetics.
My aesthetic is edgy and modern, but at the same time, beautiful and elegant while maintaining
a high level of workmanship and a cohesive colour palette. I am interested in constantly
challenging myself to create garments that have a new silhouette, to use techniques that
haven’t been used before, or to reinvent past styles.

Tell us more about your latest collection, Blood and Bone, and what inspired you to come up with this collection.
The theme of this collection was to take aspects of the internal structures of human anatomy
and transform and project it as external structures that function as apparel over our bodies.
These garments are inspired from old medical illustrations from books like Gray’s Anatomy and
namely this one illustration “L'ange Anatomique” by the renowned French illustrator Jacques
Fabien Gautier d'Agoty where the woman looks as though she has a beautiful dress on, but its
really her ribcage. Creepy yes, but beautiful.

What is your favorite piece in this collection?
My favourite piece in this collection is the black jacket with the machine knit overlay. It is edgy
and sculptural, yet it is still wearable and practical. It keeps you very warm too.

Tell us why you're proud of this collection and why it's outstanding.
I think that there is a very strong theme running (through the collection) that is immediately obvious without the viewers having to figure out what it could be.

Also, I employed unconventional techniques in machine knitting which create silhouettes that are different from what most would (usually) create. And finally, the details in my work enhance the value of it, keeping the pieces subtle yet sophisticated reflecting the professional quality of it.

What are your plans after graduation?
I would first like to get a job as a designer in a fashion house (preferably doing Haute Couture).
Of course, I will take what I can get, in order to learn more about the industry and the way a fashion
business is run, and to get to know more people in this industry.

I aspire to have my own label  after getting a few years of experience or work up the ladder in a company so that I can be in charge of the artistic direction of the company.

If you could have your own label after you graduate, what would it be like? Describe it in 3
words.
Quality, beauty and edgy.

Finally, any plans to participate in Project Runway?
Maybe one day, when I have enough experience to be confident of churning out beautiful looks
in a day. Until then, I’ll be working towards attaining that level of skills...

View Lishan's complete portfolio here.


♥,
Fal