China Mainland Student Design Competition Overall and Apparel Winner 2023: Lingling Li

22nd September 2023

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Lingling Li is currently a senior studying fashion design at the Jiangxi Institute of Fashion Technology. Fascinated by ‘good things’, whether it comes in the form of nature, life or times, Lingling appreciates the presence of beauty in the world. All of these are sources of inspiration for Lingling and fuel the creative passion and has encouraged Lingling to contribute to China’s fashion design industry.

INTERVIEW WITH LINGLING

Tell us about the inspiration behind your project:

The design is inspired by a report by neurobiologist Candace Pert, thoughts and memories full of different emotions cause the body to produce different neuropeptides. A further finding shows that organs can store emotional information. In fact, all organs and cells store emotional information, a phenomenon they call ‘cellular memory’. I explored the correlation between good and bad emotions for people’s physical and mental health combined with the theme of sustainable environmental protection. The blue color of clothing is representative of the existence of emotions, associates with physical health, that then transforms into a health state mind by making themselves comfortable, achieving a sustainable and stable state of emotions.

What do you think makes leather a great material to design with?

I think it is the self-generated charm of leather, it has a good sense of high taste, beauty, and touch. As a natural material, leather has a soft texture, beautiful surface and pleasant touch. Different animal leathers have the same or similar elasticity and elasticity when used as raw materials. External forces may deform the leather, but the leather has strong plasticity.

What has been your experience in working with leather for this competition?

In the production I used cowhide and learned some styles of leather such as pebbled, full façade, plain weave, etc. and also learned about the thickness and production process of cowhide.

How do you think winning this competition will impact your career as a designer?

The impact on my career has been tremendous, and it has given me clearer goals for my future career planning.

What are your thoughts on leather and sustainability, and how you think leather can adapt to a fashion industry increasingly focused on sustainability?

I think sustainability is a topic that has attracted a lot of attention in society and for the future. Now that times are moving a lot faster, time flies quickly, and even more so in the fashion industry, I think good designs can withstand the scrutiny of time and so can leather. I think that people don’t feel that leather is easily outdated.

How has this competition influenced your view of working with leather in the future? 

If I have the chance, I would like to add to my design. Leather has a charming to work with and I would like to work with it in different forms.

Click here to view all the shortlisted entries from this year’s China Competition.

Click here to learn more about leather and sustainability.