Yi-Ping Zhou — Parsons Festival 2021

Collection BFA

Melancholy Fantasies

“Melancholy Fantasies” is a menswear collection that takes you back into the past, brings you into a new realm of the fantastical world, and re-lives your most daring memories. The collection tells a story of a man’s beauty, delicacy, and an explosion of power through vulnerability. Borrowing the concept of a fairytale and telling the story with a child-like accent. It bonds people and invites the wearers to play, act, and be the main characteristic of the story.

Ava Yi-Ping Zhou challenges the system of “fashion” by creating collections that are seasonless. It can be seen and felt in the clothes she makes that she guides the attention to the chemistry between the garments and the wearer, which evokes unique sensations and highlights the power of dressing. It is important to her that the designs speak to the sensuality of wearing the garments, as well as to provoke a connective experience. Her insights into a new form of menswear are translated into poetry and delivered through the romances of her works.

Bio

Ava Yi-Ping Zhou is a New York-based fashion designer with a leading focus on menswear. She pursued her studies at Parsons School of Design in New York City. In addition to earning her BFA, she exchanged at Central Saint Martins to further her study in menswear design. The experiences have broadened her perspectives and shaped her multi-level thinking that is carried out in physical forms of beauty and aesthetics. Her style of work values the idea of seasonless and genderless fashion.

Ava’s design choices reflect her philosophy of respecting fashion as a form of art. She has developed her unique way of making and creating structures with experimental drapes to find the perfect balance of what is theatrical and commercial, bringing new dimensions to the human body.

Upon completion of her degree at Parsons. Her thesis project “Melancholy Fantasies” has been featured in Vogue’s Top Graduates of Parsons class of 2021 and in Vogue China’s 2021 September issue.

avayipingzhou.com