Shuting Qiu has never been one to do things by halves, but for spring she seemed to have dispensed with restraint altogether. Titled Untamed Bloom, the collection imagined a world without rules, where flowers grow to improbable proportions, animal prints come in unlikely colors, and feathers cover everything.
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Qiu has clearly taken its encouragement of creative freedom to heart, pushing self-expression to the point of near-fearlessness. Her exuberant, eccentric eveningwear brings together florals, polka dots, leopard spots, sequins, lace, and printed silks, all in a saturated rainbow palette. There were mini A-line dresses, slender silhouettes, ballerina shapes, and voluminous creations that seemed ready to sprout. Feathered hems quivered with every step, while long manteaux and robes enveloped the models in whirls of extravagant plumage.
Feathers, Qiu explained, evoke the lightness and freedom of birds. They also gave the collection its sense of movement. The designer’s Chinese heritage surfaced in silk, jacquard, embroidery, and the work of the local artisans she collaborates with in Hangzhou; the hand-painted prints reflect a lifelong love affair with color, which, she said, began at the age of nine, and shows no signs of cooling.
After a few seasons of experimenting with black and quieter notes, Qiu said she wanted to return to herself. Mission accomplished. She wasn’t interested in subtlety; a more-is-more sensibility was very much the point. Yet beneath the visual exuberance was a coherent conviction: fashion as an exercise in unfettered imagination, with nature less a model of serenity than an excuse for glorious excess.