by guest writer Jenica Chuahiock - Tattle, Tales N' Things
When Chloe Liu was a little girl, she
fashioned women from paper. They were imperfect in their own right,
yet as beautiful as anything crafted by little hands. Of course, they
came with dresses, all whimsy and fragile. She would live-off her
paper dolls, who could wear all the clothes she could not. But that
was okay, because in due time, she will be designing outfits any real
fashion idol would want.
For more information on the Fashion Design program at VCC go to http://www.vcc.ca/programscourses/program-areas/design/
When Chloe Liu was a little girl, she
fashioned women from paper. They were imperfect in their own right,
yet as beautiful as anything crafted by little hands. Of course, they
came with dresses, all whimsy and fragile. She would live-off her
paper dolls, who could wear all the clothes she could not. But that
was okay, because in due time, she will be designing outfits any real
fashion idol would want.
“When I was young, I liked to play
with paper dolls. I would make clothes for them by drawing and
cutting them out,” says Liu. “Because I was just a little girl, I
couldn’t wear some stylish kinds of clothes, so I made what I liked
for my paper dolls. And in the course of time, I found my dream.”
Liu was convinced she wanted to be a
fashion designer the moment she could cut the outlines of her paper
dolls’ dresses. She was born and raised in Guang Zhuo, China, where
she spent her adolescence practicing the arts. In high school , she
spent most of her free time outside of class to learn how to draw and
sew. By 2007, she and her family had moved to Canada, where Liu’s
fashion career was about to begin.
After attending several fashion shows,
Liu found her calling in Vancouver Community College (VCC), which she
judged to be the more creative institute for fashion. It was a tough
journey for Liu, whose lovingly supportive parents sold their
restaurant in Saskatchewan to move to Vancouver. And even in classes,
she struggled to take-in lessons taught in English. Though in the
end, Liu’s talent shines through as she releases her first fashion
collection.
“My inspiration came from colorful
candies in the forest.” says Liu, whose fantasises still runs as
wild as child. “I had imagined I was lying on the lawn looking up
the sky one day, and I saw many colors and shapes of clouds. They
reminded me of candies.”
To imitate the playfulness of candies
in her collection, Liu used fine silk, which she and her parents dyed
themselves, along with wool and jacquard fabrics. The colors swirling
like marbled rainbows and light as air. Liu’s collection, full of
vibrance, flowers and ruffles, dares to put the giddy fun back in
fashion. She enjoys the flamboyance and quirkiness of her designs,
admitting that it is mostly for evening wear or stage wear. It is for
the fashion daredevils. She laughs, and hopes that one day Lady Gaga would wear them on stage.
Although Liu is happily working as a
company stylist for now, she has big plans in the next few years,
perhaps a future in Chinese fashion, or online enterprises. Whatever
the outcome, Liu is determined to keep up with the fashion world.
“The fashion world is big, I can’t
say I can bring new things to fashion,” says Liu. “But I want to
be myself. Fashion design is happiness to me. In my mind, fashion is
always moving. You can’t just stay in the same place to design the
same pieces. A successful designer can design anything. “
For more information on the Fashion Design program at VCC go to http://www.vcc.ca/programscourses/program-areas/design/
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