Daily Inspiration: Meet Yinglun Zhang

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yinglun Zhang

Yinglun, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a fashion designer and a dancer. For a really long time, I’ve always had the urge to combine dance (movements) and fashion together in my work. As a dancer, when it comes to clothing, I work closely with the body and have developed my design system – the essence, the movement, and the performance of clothing. The essence is the body. As the body moves, garments flow with the body and create movements. The movements of garments and body become performance, expressing not only the silhouette of the clothing, but also improvisation, consciousness, and presence of the mind and body.

After graduating from Parsons School of Design in 2022, I founded my own brand IO Studio.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Perhaps not 100% smooth or I’d say it’s not that straight forward, but I’ve learned so much more along the way.
After doing all the branding etc. I felt stuck at the production stage. There are so much to learn, to test and to explore because clearly it’s not just about the design itself, but running a business. So I decided to take it slow and keep learning.

It was at the right time I had the chance to work at Thom Browne, the brand that I’ve always wanted to work for. Before I got the job offer I was thinking if I get the job, that means I should work and explore. If not, that means I should keep focusing on developing the brand 100%. Luckily I got the job and worked on their NYFW, Met Gala, special projects and Paris couture show. Then in April, I had my exhibition in Chelsea, having the chance to explore live performances, paintings, sculptures, etc.
From all these experience, I’ve learned and explored so much more than just fashion which I felt like it has given me a lot of new insights about my brand.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My focuses are fashion, performance and living philosophy (lifestyle). More than creating a fashion brand, I also want to create an atmosphere that is relaxing and refreshing as well as to express the philosophy and ways of living – following one’s intentions and values, mindfulness, self-reflection, slow living…

What matters most to you?
Authenticity, flow, balance and harmony.

For me, all of the work that I’ve created comes from my mind and the feeling at the moment I was creating. Rather than authenticity, it’s more like “presence”, the present feeling, the reaction to present surroundings, and how it reflects on my work.

Flow is mind flow, workflow to work effortlessly and naturally. The balance is the color, the styling, etc., and altogether creates harmony throughout the entire presentation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.studio-i-o.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studio____l___0/

Image Credits
image by Boyang Hu, Tianqi Liao