Youyitai Zhang
Youyitai Zhang is a fashion designer exploring time, decay and transformation through garment construction and textile experimentation. Her work uses wrapped volumes, exposed layers, button systems, wire-shaped hems and alum crystallisation to question whether ageing can become a source of beauty, memory and emotional durability.
WHAT TIME TAKES, TIME SHAPES
WHAT TIME TAKES, TIME SHAPES is a six-look fashion collection exploring time not as destruction, but as a force that records, distorts and reshapes form. Drawing from withering flowers, geological erosion, calendar systems and archival marks, the project translates visible traces of time into wrapped silhouettes, fractured openings, exposed linings, raw edges, button maps, wire-shaped hems and crystallised surfaces.
The collection moves from origin to residual collapse, tracing a gradual shift from intact structure to distortion and near-disintegration. Three manufactured looks and three illustrated looks communicate this transformation through material experimentation, garment construction and an archival visual language.
The project approaches responsible design through adaptability and emotional durability. Fastening systems, adjustable forms and visible ageing invite garments to change with the wearer, encouraging a relationship with clothing based on repair, transformation and continued attachment rather than constant newness.
Three manufactured looks from WHAT TIME TAKES, TIME SHAPES, exploring time, decay and transformation through sculptural silhouettes, raw textures, button systems and crystallised surfaces.
Look 1 introduces the collection through a structured yet fragile silhouette. Layered raw-edged textiles, exposed button fastenings and a lifted collar suggest the first stage of transformation, where the garment begins to hold visible traces of time, wear and material change.
The side view of Look 1 reveals the garment’s layered volume, raised collar and textured surface. Raw-edged panels, exposed buttons and irregular material marks suggest a body in transition, where structure begins to soften, shift and record traces of time.
Alum crystals settle across the raw-edged textile surface of Look 1, forming a fragile residue that suggests time made visible. Exposed buttons, loop fastenings and layered fabric openings create a tactile record of wear, transformation and material change.
The back view of Look 2 reveals a distorted, sculptural silhouette built through expanded sleeves, fractured openings and a weathered leather-like surface. Crystallised marks settle across the garment like traces of erosion, emphasising the collection’s movement from structure towards disruption.
This view focuses on the skirt element of Look 2, where irregular texture, raw-edged construction and subtle crystallised marks create a surface that appears worn, eroded and reshaped by time. The softened volume contrasts with the body’s profile, suggesting material collapse and quiet transformation.
Crystallised residue gathers across the cracked leather-like surface and eroded textile layers of Look 2. The close-up reveals how material breakdown, hand placement and irregular surface marks create a sense of tension, touch and time embedded within the garment.
Look 3 advances the collection into a darker and more distorted stage of transformation. A cracked leather-like bodice, deep red textured layers, exposed construction and crystallised surface marks suggest erosion, tension and material breakdown, while the garment remains structured around the body.
The side view of Look 3 captures the garment in motion, using blur and shadow to suggest a body shifting through time. The exposed back, sculptural collar, dark fractured surfaces and crystallised marks emphasise distortion, erosion and the unstable state between structure and collapse.
This close-up of Look 3 reveals layered cracked surfaces, exposed buttons, deep red lace and crystallised residue across the garment. The contrast between dark leather-like panels, fragile open textures and mineral deposits suggests a later stage of erosion, where structure becomes increasingly fragmented and marked by time.
The back detail of Look 3 reveals fractured leather-like panels, deep red lace and crystallised deposits spreading across the garment surface. The exposed back and layered openings create a sense of vulnerability, while the mineral residue suggests time accumulating on the body and garment.
