– Doris Domoszlai-Lantner
Designer Bonan Li’s design philosophy is grounded in the idea that clothing can not only reflect one’s inner self, but can strengthen one’s bond with their surroundings. This spiritual outlook on the everyday act of getting dressed permeated the multifaceted event marking the debut of her latest Collection 00: Floating Landscape. Collaborating with an impressive, diverse roster of artists, Li hosted a dynamic evening that highlighted the power of nature and the human form through the lens of textiles, music and dance, drawing on French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s theories, and the Eastern concept of ‘void’ (虚).
“My practice approaches clothing not as traditional design, but as a medium of perception and an extension of bodily experience,” Li explains. “I conceive garments as spatial forms that are never finished, but constantly shifting in relation to the body, environment, and movement. Each piece carries traces of material, memory, and time, becoming a vessel for sensation rather than an object of display.”
The Blanc showroom, a community-focused creative space, buzzed with palpable excitement as a fashionable crowd filled the space. A lone sound artist, Vora, broke through the noise with her enchantingly melancholic voice and electric cello combo, drawing the audience around her as people continued to arrive. Suddenly, a procession of dancers and models slowly entered the space, some taking position in the front, while others made their way towards the music in the back. Dancers jumped, swayed, and rocked around the cello, their movements mimicking the soft flow of the beats.
The invitation promised an interactive show, but what that meant was initially unclear. The audience watched from the perimeter, lined up along the walls, as if they were expecting a regular runway to manifest. Li’s presentation of Bo Nan Li Collection 00 was no ordinary fashion show, though. With the gentle encouragement of the project crew, the spectators realized that they could be more than just that; they could move freely around the galleries, becoming active participants in the performance. Once that barrier was lifted, the careful but enthusiastic mulling about of the audience members harmoniously contrasted with that of the dancers and models, adding a new dimension to the evening. Chaotic yet symbiotic. Loud, yet soft, and gentle.
photos ©Joey Wang
Models and dancers alike wore the earthy, dreamy garments that were part of this collection. The models, however, wore shoes, while the dancers were barefoot, no doubt a logistical decision to facilitate traction and movement in a crowded space. Garments made of soft, crinkly cottons, linens, and silks, in snow white, ochres, tans, and anthracite greys floated around, evoking the landscape to which the collection’s title alludes. Combined with the projection of the collection’s photoshoot—shot in lush forest—continuously being streamed on a wall in the back gallery, and the constant flux of the performers and audience, it really did feel like the space was floating, moving, evolving, right before our eyes, and under our feet.
Crisply wrinkled oversized jackets and coats in a shade of sandy tan boldly moved through, like trees that simply uprooted and wandered away. The headgear, made of straw, copper wire, and rocks, by textile artist Freda Xia, transcended the usual understanding of the word ‘hat’ by showcasing long, root-like masses that underscored the arboreal theme of Li’s work. Silhouettes were voluminous, especially that of pants, skirts, and dresses—reminiscent of Rei Kawakubo’s bubble-like structures, and clearly meant to emphasize the relationship between the wearer and the locale, whether it be a gallery or mountainside.
By taking up sizeable amounts of space, both physically and metaphorically, through the textiles and clothing, and the people and movements that animate them, Li provides her audience with adroit commentary on Merleau-Ponty’s concepts of lived body, lived spaces, and how they connect to void (虚), or emptiness. Li used the clothes in Collection 00 to manifest a lived space, full of the lived bodies of performers and audience members alike. The goal was not to fill the void, but rather to address it, and foster a deeper connection with their surroundings—human and object alike.
Creative Director: Bonan Li
Textile Artist: Freda Xia
Movement Director: Ching-i Chang
Dance Artists: Nico Li, Marie Lloyd Paspe, Aditi Dhruv, Ke’ron J. Wilson, Esme Boyce, and Ching-i Chang
Sound Artist: Vora
Composer: Delu
DJs: Bifa, and NguyendowsXP
Doris Domoszlai-Lantner is a fashion theorist, historian, and archivist.
