China’s Chen Wen Talks Denim Creativity
Art may imitate life, but for leading Chinese designer Chen Wen, denim certainly imitates art.
The designer has become known for marrying art with the blue stuff, channeling oil paintings to give denim brushstroke designs or cubist art effects, and finding innovative ways to color block with denim and prints. His denim styles are known for being fun, fashion forward and fluid.
But none of Chen’s creations come without consideration for the environment—he’s making denim with more sustainable materials that also lend themselves to the hand feel and fluidity of his garments.
Carved in Blue sat with Chen to find out what he’s up to and what he’ll be bringing to the denim industry moving forward.
Carved in Blue: How long have you been a designer?
Chen: I’ve been a designer for more than 30 years.
Carved in Blue: Who do you design your denim for?
Chen: I design for women from 20 to 40 years of age, who like denim, art and fashion, and have nice fashion tastes.
Carved in Blue: Tell us more about the designs in your collection this season.
Chen: Using denim as material, art as inspiration and fashion technology elements, new washing technology is applied creatively to bring denim’s new trend. This is the first time that Lenzing worked with Chinese a designer in the China International Fashion Week to hold a special conference, as the world’s leading fiber manufacturing enterprise, Lenzing Group and Chen Wen’s cooperation, undoubtedly make it unique style fabrics icing on the cake. TENCEL® fibers are produced from trees and its closed production process makes the production process environmental friendly. Textiles made up of cotton, silk and linen has the advantages of environmental protection, comfort and health.
Carved in Blue: What was your inspiration for the collection?
Chen: I used the current international popular elements, combined with fabric characteristics, in the Eastern culture and ideology, Western modeling, color, pop, Chinese ink and wash, passionate, soft and delicate and other contradictions and cultural collision—a mashup. Unlike in the past, this time it’s the innovative application of fabric to make clothing more vivid and vigorous. The motion elements, fringe pattern, natural texture and color ink printing pattern of my creations, with a freely flowing style of writing washing water treatment works, the nature, the fusion of Eastern Fang Wenhua, also with more diverse category, has higher real wear and shows the modern fashion and aesthetic tendency.
Carved in Blue: Why did you decide to use fabrics with TENCEL® fibers?
Chen: Because fabrics with TENCEL® fibers are a summer wear and more comfortable, cool and breathable, with the comfort of cotton and silk texture. With TENCEL® fibers and linen together, there is Chinese zen style—elegant, soft, smooth—these Hua Runshun used in clothing, there is a sense of elegance, and very strong, very refreshing function that is environmentally friendly.
Carved in Blue: What are your thoughts on sustainability and how do you integrate it into your work?
Chen: Sustainability is the development trend of modern science and technology, especially with the development of the industry, many chemical raw materials are applied to our clothing. These chemical raw materials with natural materials do not have the quality, and at the same time, it also brings some negative effects inevitably. Clothing is essential to people’s lives, and the great influence of clothing on human health and the environment, so the sustainable clothing has a lot of advantages. My design is the use of cotton and other natural materials, it makes people comfortable, has moisture absorption and air permeability, and the cooperation with TENCEL® fibers lets me meet a kind of new material that has the advantages of cotton, silk and hemp. It’s very suitable for people to wear.
Carved in Blue: Where are your designs sold?
Chen: My designs are on sale in the showroom of designers in Beijing, Shanghai and some other cities. These customers pursue high quality lifestyle, fashion taste, and pursuit of beauty.