Cutting-edge knitting technique presented to the fore

A PhD candidate in Fashion, Yishu Yan brings cutting-edge technological knitting to the fore in Hong Kong PolyU Fashion Gallery's inaugural online exhibition.

Yishu Yan might not be a household name just yet – but the PhD student from Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Institute of Textiles and Clothing has been receiving numerous accolades for her innovative work in fashion. Among them, she was named second runner-up at the 5th International Youth Designer Competition at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology last year, then represented Hong Kong at the 2019 Arts of Fashion Foundation Competition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. She's also been featured at numerous global exhibitions in recent years, including at the Jill Stuart Gallery at Cornell University in New York and at Yamagata, Japan's Tohoku University of Art and Design. Her latest designs, "Mermaid Recall", were acquired by the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou.

"Aqualoop", her winning work in Beijing, is a series of colourful knitted yarns, based on her digital knitting research, which focuses on the fluidity and transparency of water, while also highlighting the attractive colours of underwater life. The colorways of fiery red, scuba blue, solar golden yellow and bright white predominate in the shape-shifting garments.

Yan has further developed that idea and its research into an online exhibition of textile and fashion designs at PolyU's Fashion Gallery, called Look Loop: Transitional Knitting by Yishu Yan, curated by Qingxin Peng. Yan's research focuses on developing innovative textiles with integrated stretchability and three-dimensional surfaces through digital knitting technology. On that basis, she creates fashion that meets different dressing requirements – and that ultimately becomes a fashion art form in itself.

"Yishu is elevating knitwear to a new level at which a passion for both art and fashion is exhibited," says Peng. "As such, knitwear affirms our shared conviction and vision that knitted textiles can be successfully and seamlessly merged, and that a creative spirit, combined with intellectual vigour and fearlessness, is essential for the development and advancement of both designs and commercial products. I'm confident that Yishu will soar to even greater heights in her future endeavours."

To check out Look Loop, head to fashiongallery.hk/currentexhibition