There’s something about New York that’s got Kara Liu hooked. The Shanghai-born designer spent three months in Manhattan last year for an internship with Alexander Wang before returning to Australia to launch her own label.
Drawn to the Big Apple’s energy and charisma, and inspired by the refined elegance of the fashion set, Liu translated the city’s best features for her commercial debut collection.
I grew up in Shanghai and I love big cities,” Liu says. “But New York has always been special because I feel connected to the people.”
Liu speaks highly of New York’s buzzing streets of fashion lovers. “New Yorkers are many things – they are elegant, refined but also bold and daring,” she says.
“They are quite romantic, but also very realistic, hardworking and efficient. They get things done. They always wear the classics but wear them creatively. The clothes always complement the wearer, never overtaking him or her, and these things align perfectly with my own design philosophy.”
Liu’s choice of fabrics reflects this wintry New York influence. There’s plenty of luxurious wool and alpaca textures in her collection, but she calls on heavy structured silks to soften the silhouette. The RMIT fashion graduate works from a city studio and splits her time between Melbourne and Shanghai.
Liu says she would have become a surgeon if she had followed the footsteps of her parents. “I went on a school trip to Melbourne in grade 6 from Newcastle and absolutely loved it,” says the designer whose mother was then doing her PhD in Newcastle.
“My mum then made the decision for us to move to Melbourne when I was 14. We love the lifestyle and mum felt that Australia was an environment that suited me better than Shanghai.”
Working as an intern at Alexander Wang in New York was a fashion highlight for Liu, although her time there was cut short so she could return to Melbourne for L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Week 2013, where her collection was selected as part of the National Graduate Showcase Runway.
“It was an incredible experience to assist the designers and work alongside the best pattern-makers in New York,” she says. “I had the opportunity to see how the company operates, as well as get first-hand knowledge of the New York garment industry. Assisting backstage at a major show was an experience like no other,” she says of helping on the ready-to-wear fall and resort collections.
For her own collection, Liu keenly follows simple design aesthetics. She plots this season’s message on reminders of New York; from the grey winter skies to concrete skyscrapers and flashing neon lights. She’s big on box pleats, organza and geometrical shapes, pinning her fashion forecast on all that is a tad unusual.
A capsule collection by Liu is also available in Glue stores nationally – this sub range is a result of her winning the 1% Glue fashion design competition last year.
“Titled [SLEEP. WORK. PLAY.], it is an exploration into the simple joys of domestic life, inspired by the familiar and the sensation of comfort of home,” Liu says.
“The collection combines my edited, minimal design aesthetics with Glue’s relaxed, fun-loving lifestyle. It has been such a fun collaboration and a great experience for me to be immersed in the commercial end of the industry.”
The driven designer has also collaborated with Australian footwear label Belmore Bootmakers to complement her capsule collection.
“We share modern, refined, minimal aesthetics, which is reflected in the collaboration range,” Liu says.
“It is a very beautifully edited range that promotes design and longevity. All the shoes are made by skilled craftsmen in Belmore’s NSW factory and available in their stores now.”
