Guangzhou-based designer Yueqi Qi has a big customer base in Japan, and brings some necessary punchiness to the Tokyo schedule with her shows, which are invariably transportive. At a Yueqi Qi show, the message always seems to be: “Get in, loser, we’re going intergalactic.”
With experience working on embroidery in Chanel’s atelier, Qi knows how to enliven her collections with heaps of intricate detail that could easily look messy in lesser skilled hands. This time was no exception. Sportswear played a prominent part, with burgundy tracksuits, bowling jerseys, and football shirts, but Qi made it her own by festooning everything with reams of sequins and flowing trims of lace (some of them even had a lace number 7 on the back).
A collaboration with Adidas, which the designer has an ongoing relationship with, yielded a bright blue corset and a clip-on tennis skirt that, decorated with plastic detailing as it was, felt authentically part of the Yueqi Qi universe and slotted in nicely with the rest of the sportswear. Elsewhere, flared jeans had spirals of frills or were zig-zagged with seams, and hems were often decorated with the jellyfish-like trims that have become something of a signature for Qi. Though her work is rooted in Y2K codes—baggy denim, platform shoes, mini skirts, and seapunk vibes—the designer has carved out her own unmistakable aesthetic.
For the finale, the models appeared in force, marching together down the runway as one, channeling the edgy-yet-welcoming community spirit that the designer is known for. Qi didn’t speak to the press after tonight’s show, and hadn’t come back on questions over email by the time this review was filed. A shame—though her clothes are always fun and stimulating to witness on the runway, some more context would have added another dimension to their charm.