Une’s preoccupation with fashion by no means comes from dressing dolls or reading her mom’s fashion magazines as a child. Instead, she was obsessing over science fiction, fantasising about fantastical existences and characters. “I prefer to imagine things that haven’t been made or a universe that doesn’t exist,” she explains over e-mail. Originally from Beijing, China, her father did ink painting and calligraphy, and despite their different aesthetic and inspiration, drawing became formative in Une’s childhood. “I found myself obsessed in drawing people much more than anything else. That’s why I enrolled in fashion and chose to work with human body.”
Une was admitted to the fashion course of Tsinghua University, where she was taught fundamental garment construction and how to use garments as a medium to express concepts. Rather than pursuing fashion trends, she took the chance to immerse herself fully into concepts and inspiration. “I was less concerned with fashion and style,” she recalls – “instead, I became very confident in pattern making.”
After graduating, Une took the decision to relocate to London to further her practice, and she enrolled at the Central Saint Martins Graduate Diploma program, directed by the notorious David Kappo. “David was the kind of tutor that would always challenge you, and want to make sure you felt confident with what you were doing,” Une explains, as she recalls the challenges of that year. “In CSM I had very hard time trying to twist my mind. I remember there was one tutorial when I was trying to convince David that I was going to make some sculptural structures on a garment, and that it would have a lot of meaning behind it. David simply asked me, “where is your fashion?” That’s when I started realising that there’s something more to fashion than just a concept. I worked really hard and things got better.”
“IT’S ALWAYS HARD TO SAY THAT ‘I’M DOING FASHION’ OR THAT ‘I’M STUDYING FASHION. WHAT I’VE LEARNED AND WHAT I DO CAN HARDLY BE CONSIDERED FASHION: THEY ARE OBJECTS. I’M USING GARMENTS AS MEDIUM TO CARRY FORWARD A MESSAGE.”