Interview with RONG ZHANG

RONG ZHANG ("RZ") interviewed on Wednesday, 25 April.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

RZ : I am a Chinese Womenswear Fashion Designer. My collection is defined by its artistic fusion of craftsmanship, modern femininity, and youth culture influences with a sense of refined ease. Inspiration drawn from contemporary art, subculture is combined with an emphasis on tailoring and the manipulation of fabrics. Balanced between tradition and modernity, harmony and contradiction, I creates thought-provoking silhouettes through breaking the garment stereotype.

How did you become a designer?

RZ : Under the influence of my parents, who engage in trading children clothing, I have grown up with an unyielding interest in clothing color and fabric. I often painted the sketches of costumes in my imagination and sewed clothes for baby dolls. I steadfastly insist that clothes are alive in the hands of the owner's personality and designer’s ideas. After graduating from high school, I believed in my enduring passion in fashion design and strong spatial imagination. Therefore, I decided to give up the study of science and decided to get into costume design profession.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

RZ : Initially focused on making a garment installation, I waved the colorful elastic bands on the netting fabric, and transformed the 3D waving fabric into 2D digital printing. Moving on, I used digital printing images to develop new shapes and different fabric manipulation like the layering organza, the pearling edge georgette.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

RZ : excited but stressful at sometimes

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

RZ : I received her Bachelor degree in Womenwear from London Collage of Fashion in 2015. Using rich and geometrical patterns, the art of folding, creating volume through construction, my undergraduate collection has been featured in leading publications such as Vogue. For the intricately crafted, multi-layered garments and explorations into digital printing, digital embroidery and weaving techniques, my collections has been selected for ‘The Chinese Festival’ Exhibition in London V&A Museum 2013, ‘1ndependent15’ Design Show in London 2015 and ‘The Costume Colloquium V-Restraint and Excess in Dress’ Exhibition in Florence 2016, ‘Midwest Fashion Week 2017’and ‘FashionX Runway Austin 2017’. In the past accolades have included ‘Raffles Design Institution First Year Scholarship’ (2010), ‘The top 15 Designer for Tomorrow Award’ (2015).In future, I plan to set up personal design brand.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

RZ : have a clear market vision and understand their customer

What is your day to day look like?

RZ : I would like to sleep and wake up early everyday, and focus on work after a simple breakfast.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

RZ : In spare time, I like go through the magazine and galleries, to catch up the new trends.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

RZ : fresh idea，and functional for the life

How do you decide if your design is ready?

RZ : When the design has been finished and reach more than 90 percent to my imagination

What is your biggest design work?

RZ : The latest 'Traces' Collection, which took me one year to finished everything from researching.

Who is your favourite designer?

RZ : Vivienne Westwood's fashion. Her distinctive style of work, the control over the entire design and selection of good ideas greatly impressed me. It also taught me how to judge the beauty of a design through the mix of a clear concept and different clothing items combination.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

RZ : I am born in China, the eastern culture has affected my design a lot, like the Chinese embroidery, costume and fabric. The traditional cultures of China has inspired my design and techniques, since I study fashion design at UK and US, which extend my vision.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

RZ : Normally I worked by myself, but I collaborate with many people from other field like photographers, makeup artists and models.

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

RZ : give a new idea to the public

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

RZ : A’ Design Award gives me a great platform to evaluate my designs, and meet many talented designers around the world

RONG ZHANG Profile