Louis Shengtao Chen is not a name that one easily forgets. Even less so when you meet Chen himself: the 27‐year‐old fashion designer has a graceful appearance, owing to both his androgynous style and the wavy hair that falls to his shoulders. He has a refined manner of speaking, like some old‐world character, and he airs his thoughts with a faraway look in his eyes. (He is a Pisces, it turns out.) And then you see his designs, which are elegant, tough, glamorous and even a little provocative, all at the same time.
That contradicting mixture is at the core of Chen’s namesake label, which he launched in 2021. The Beijing‐born designer had only completed his bachelor’s degree at Central Saint Martins in London a year before that. How did he land the biggest opportunity that any fashion graduate could ask for, right in the middle of the Covid‐19 pandemic? With a stroke of luck, on top of his talent: when Chen returned to China after his graduation, he was approached by Labelhood, the Beijing‐based fashion incubator that supports young Chinese designers. It offered him a slot to showcase his collection at Shanghai Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2021, joining a roster of buzzy brands such as Shushu/Tong, Rui and Yueqi Qi.
Chen’s first collection, which he dubbed “The Debutante”, established his penchant for texture and colour as well as his flair for the dramatic, and quickly captured the attention of the Chinese fashion industry. It received orders from multiple stockists and earned him the newcomer award at the 2021 Hu Fashion Forward Prize. The designer soon assembled his design team and set up his label in Chongqing. The Chinese city, known for its car factories, is an unlikely home for a fashion brand. Nonetheless, it was put on the map when Chen was shortlisted as a semi‐finalist for the 2023 LVMH Prize.
Chen was also boosted by star power: his debut collection had a stamp of approval from Blackpink member Lisa, who wore one of his dresses. Even more celebrities have since been drawn to his bold designs, including Caroline Polachek, Julia Fox, and Chinese singer Jane Zhang, for whom Chen created a spectacular gown inspired by the iconic Greek sculpture, Winged Victory of Samothrace.
This year, Chen is preparing to present his designs at showrooms in Paris and Milan. He remains on the Shanghai Fashion Week calendar, where his collections continue to shine. Michael Mok, the buying consultant of SocietyA, stocked the multi‐label store in Singapore with Chen’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection after seeing it on the runway. “Chen is strong at mixing high‐end tailoring with experimental techniques in his collections,” says Mok.
Chen’s designs have proven popular in Singapore. Within its first season of stocking the brand, SocietyA has sold out a few styles, Mok shares, adding that customers favoured the sequinned and denim pieces. One customer, he says, purchased Chen’s sequinned skirt with floral embroidery at the store and immediately wore it to attend a Taylor Swift concert.
You can only wonder how Chen’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection will be worn. When designing it, Chen was largely guided by his instincts and the volatility of the present. The results are peculiar, even perverse. On the runway, a satin corset was worn over, not under, a massive pink faux fur coat. One trench coat, covered in a print of deer spots, offers the most unexpected take on this year’s animal print trend. Bestial inspirations are also seen in furry shoes, which were styled with glittering sequinned leg warmers. The show closed with several satin dresses that have the chaotic wiring of their hoop skirts exposed—a reminder that Chen’s idea of glamour is slightly off‐kilter.
Here, the Chinese designer shares about the collection, his inspirations, the best and worst parts of working in the fashion industry today, and more.
Experimentation is a major part of your creative process. What are some fabrications or techniques that you were excited to explore for Fall/Winter 2024?
Louis Shengtao Chen (LSC): One of the best collaborations we’ve done is with the Japanese company [that produces] Ultrasuede (a non‐woven material created using ultra‐fine fibres for a grain leather look and feel). I spent a month in a Japanese suburb in Tokyo last year, working [on the fabric] with a few artists. It’s a sustainable, vegetable‐tanned suede‐like fabric that’s mostly used in the luxury car industry. I wanted to discover the most feminine side of it. We made a lot of textures for the collection: There’s a paper‐like version and a very artistic, hand‐painted [one]. We also created a fringed dress that people say looks like an exotic cactus. It’s fun to work with a single material; it forces you to be more creative in how you think about fabric and fashion.
Where did the idea for sequin leg warmers come from?
LSC: You can call them leg warmers. You can call them anything you want because they don’t even have a name. They were a total accident. We originally draped them on the cuff of the jackets. When we were working on the styling, we just decided to put them on the legs to create a sort of clown‐like look. We liked the sound they made when the models walked. It’s quite pleasing to hear, so that’s how they came to be. They became the most memorable thing for those who watched the show.
From your collections, the Louis Shengtao Chen woman seems to have a strong sense of character. Is there a particular film that you can see your Fall/Winter 2024 collection being the perfect wardrobe for?
LSC: That’s a very coincidental question because I’ve been watching a lot of movies recently. I’d say it’s a mix between The Fall—it’s amazing, an art piece—and Atonement. With Atonement, I was inspired by how the film is constructed and that there are options that lead to different outcomes. The heart of my collection is a mixing of styling, but it’s completely reversed into something very chaotic. I’d say it even makes you feel sick. Somehow, that reflects what I felt when I was watching Atonement. What we learnt at Central Saint Martins is to use that kind of logic, or a very sensual inspiration, and turn it into your own language of creation. It has become a habit for me as a designer to develop every collection [like that].
You’re based in Chongqing. How does the city inspire you?
LSC: I travel a lot, like every week. Chongqing has become like a shelter: Once I finish a work trip, I want to go back immediately. I have the capacity to redefine myself there. It’s a very peaceful city. It’s very humid, like Singapore. Obviously, there’s not much fashion there, but it’s quite charming because of that.
Who has shaped your idea of glamour?
LSC: The first fashion icon I had in my early years was my mum, for sure. She works in a real estate company and has a very avant‐garde taste in fashion. She encouraged me to get in touch with the fashion industry, which is quite rare where I’m from (in mainland China). But I will say that the brand’s customers have also become an inspiration [for me]. They have a different interpretation of our clothes. How they style themselves for their daily lives, or bring my sense of glamour to their daily wardrobe—it’s quite fun to look at.
What does your mum think about your fashion brand?
LSC: She’s a big fan. She actually buys a lot of our stuff. I offer her special customised pieces, but she also pays for pieces from the brand. It’s a big encouragement. She also shares a lot of sharp comments on how the clothes are made—the quality, the finishing. Sometimes I think her comments are harsher than what people in the industry say [laughs].
Do you feel that there is more to explore as a designer working on womenswear, compared to menswear?
LSC: I think womenswear offers a lot of flexibility and possibilities. For example, this morning I was looking into the fabric jersey, doing research on its origins. One typical fabric like that can have millions of diverse ways to develop it. Women’s fashion has such a rich history. To discover just one area of womenswear—there’s a lot to take in, to reflect on and study. I just want to spend all of my life doing womenswear because I think it’s a topic without answers. Also, women attract me, as a designer and as a male person. I think womenswear is so sensual, and the character that we’re creating at the brand is also quite erotic and exotic. The principle [of being a womenswear designer] is to give joy to women’s lives. I think that job is wonderful.
You launched your fashion brand immediately after graduation. Three years on, what are the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in running your own brand?
LSC: I think the biggest thing I’ve learnt is to make plans and to take notes every day. That sounds very simple, but I think it’s fundamental to do. Now, we have more stuff to work on, not just collections but also projects. Every morning, what I do the most is to reply to emails and make plans for the week. I don’t design before lunchtime. The other lesson is to trust your team. You have to have a very reliable team. If it’s just me [working at the brand], I feel like I’ll be drained after a few years because there’s so much going on.
How has the Chinese fashion industry evolved since you launched your brand? What are some opportunities and challenges that you encounter today?
LSC: New opportunities are coming in every day. As the brand gets bigger, we attract people from not just the fashion industry, but also many other industries who are willing to get involved with us. I find these opportunities very precious because I like to work with people. I like to talk to people. Getting to know other people is a source of inspiration for me. Today, there are lots of opportunities, but we have to work really hard to show how strongly we believe in ourselves. I think the most challenging thing is that the economic circumstances are not the best right now. You have to work really, really hard. Even if you do, you may not get a good outcome. But if you don’t, you pause your possibilities there.
What do you love the most about being a fashion designer?
LSC: I love every bit of fashion. Fashion is like a pearl. It’s so attractive, from every angle. I don’t like to complain about my job or this industry, because why complain? I think the job itself is beautiful. Every day, I wake up and feel like my job is fantastic. I feel very lucky and loved in this industry.
This story originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of GRAZIA Singapore.
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