RUIRUIDENG is an avant-garde fashion brand that maintains the unique fashion taste of independent designer brands and has a distinctive artistic concept. Its founder Deng will release the first ready-to-wear collection during London Fashion Week this year. Subsequently, RUIRUIDENG‘s artworks will be on display in individual exhibitions in Beijing and Shanghai.
Deng weaves her fairy tale fantasy into these glorious hand-weaved textile pieces. Staging a wedding party in a charming forest joined by a mermaid, a knight, a botanist, a zoologist, a florist, a gardener, a magician, a carpenter, a herbalist, and a tailor, Deng’s graduate collection shows her remarkable talent in handling various materials and creating cinematic narratives. These characters are all dressing in hand-drawn and hand-weaved textile coated in plastic which gives the bodies trellis-like appearances. Exhibited alongside the final piece and the short film, her draft and portfolio present her research bases and interests: the middle-age knight tales including enchanting elements and romantic stories.
After learning fine art for years in Central Saint Martins, Deng is currently running her brand, RUIRUIDENG, which is a conceptual brand in art and fashion, dedicating to merging fine art creation and fashion design. RUIRUIDENG‘s products encompass apparel, accessories, artwork, and home furnishings. There will be more in the future, from exploring spiritual fields to holding fashion fairs and salons. Deng prefers to brand art or lifestyle instead of products. You can feel Deng's passion for fashion and art, as well as her contemplation on the fascinating relationship between art and fashion in an interview with Qin Chuan, a journalist of Central Saint Martins Culture Criticism and Curation.
“In my view, fashion designers, especially those fashion brand owners, are often too busy to have a meal. But Deng warmly welcomed me to her home studio which was filled with experimental textiles, found objects, and sketches — like a cabinet of curiosities,” said Qin.
“When Deng presented her recent works to me, I can feel that she treasured the freedom of self-expression and combined it with her commercial promotion perfectly”. Deng told Qin that this project came from the fairy tale fantasy she had been dreamed of for a long time and based on absolutely private memories of her. “I am offering a cinematic scene that the customer can immerse themselves in; For instance, there is a forest wedding party in my latest project where customers could imagine themselves living in this fairy tale,” said Deng.
Deng said, “I don’t know what fashion is, but what I do now will define what fashion is.” Deng highly appreciated the protection provided by “the fortress” which maintains her confidence and naivete in artistic creation. “The fashion industry we are dealing with and those established institutions we cooperate with, such as CSM, provide us with a safe zone for artistic practices; What we are doing is fashion or will be coined as fashion even though we are in this market-oriented or market-dominated world.” The high wall of the fortress blocks many questions outside, preventing the insiders from being incorporated by the commercial. The tight relationship with the fashion industry makes her brand stand out and encourages her expression in art creation.
Deng also expressed her great interest in film-making. When her fashion show was postponed, she needed to stage the project online in the form of a short film. She thought it a great opportunity to explore new ways of expression and presentation that differs from conventional runway shows. “The film will be a better way to present my dream and enables me to construct a unique narrative way.”
Qin concluded at the end of the interview, “As an outsider, I greatly appreciate Deng’s skills in storytelling, as well as the fantasy she created with amazing hand-woven textiles. I am happy to see that someone is courageous to challenge the pre-existing industry limits. ”