Courtesy of @di_________du
For anyone with a predilection for statement heels, bodycon cuts and ’90s-flavoured sassiness, Antwerp-based designer Di Du’s offering is most welcome. The recent graduate of the Belgian city’s famed Academy of Fine Arts has been making waves with her final-year collection, Sip My Ocean, which she recently showcased at New York Fashion Week’s VFiles runway. Sip My Ocean consists of pastel-toned, feather-trimmed, boldly slashed and slitted pieces that are simultaneously ultra-feminine and fiercely provocative. Graced with logos, finished with reflective stripes and strategically positioned cutouts, Di Du’s clothes are not just unabashedly sexy, they are also futuristic, sporty and theatrical. “I’m really into that dramatic showgirl thing,” Du tells SLEEK. Unsurprisingly, then, Di Du, the label, has been a big hit with the next-generation icons from Sita Bellan to Rosalía, and Ariana Grande, who recently sported the designer’s lilac-hued puffer bodysuit in the video for her perfume campaign.
The white-hot Gen-Z it-label is but a one-woman enterprise. “To be honest, I’m still trying to figure out the business side of things. That’s what you don’t normally learn at a fashion school,” says the designer, who having graduated three months ago, has been working ever since, adding more looks to her graduate collection, finishing custom-made outfits, dealing with the bureaucratic horror of sustaining a young business, and getting a visa. Has it been worth it? It absolutely has: the show in New York, where Du was invited to present along with other young, promising designers, was “wonderful, just great,” she says.
Courtesy of Di Du.
Chinese-born, 27-year-old Du came to study in Antwerp in 2015, after finishing her BA in Fashion Design in Beijing, where, she says, the focus “always was on the technical side of things.” A fan of Margiela and the legendary Antwerp Six, however, the designer craved for a more extravagant and conceptual approach to design. That’s why, after an internship at Chinese brand Sankuanz, she moved to Belgium. Du’s fondness for Margiela, one of her all-time favourites, shines through in the masked, oversized silhouettes of her earlier collection, If Wishes Were Horses. Drawing inspiration from French artist Camille Henrot’s sculptures, this collection featured one of the most striking heels you’ll ever see: a metallic, rounded, and hook-like construction that was somehow both threatening and seductive.
Similarly, Sip My Ocean was inspired by art: Berlin-based, Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg’s hyper-sexualised and radically ironic cyborg-like sculptures, as well as the mesmeric work of Pipilotti Rist (Di Du vividly remembers a catalogue of the Swiss artist’s work that made her think of the ocean as a “powerful and quiet, and elegant” force). Of course, the ‘ocean’ is also a metaphor for femininity. “I feel a lot is demanded of women, and I want to present them as strong, independent warriors,” Du has said in the past. And yes, the title’s erotic connotation was intentional.
The inspiration behind her work, the designer explains, is “the combination of all personal experiences.” Her Chinese background, says Du, is certainly a great influence. It manifests itself—overtly—in the label’s already-signature dragon-shaped prints, but also in her approach to designing clothes. Coming from a culture where views on fashion, femininity, empowerment and power are different from Western ones, Du reevaluates these views in light of Western perspectives, reinterpreting and twisting them. That, perhaps, is partly the reason why her take on empowered female sexuality seems fresh and fierce, and delightfully playful: you probably won’t be able to pull off the transparent high-heeled shoes and shiny fish-shaped clutches, if you take yourself too seriously.
Di Du’s current focus on the showgirl-image proves to be fortunate, and—for a debut act— very well-performed. Although since this is her first showcase, it remains to be seen, what direction the designer will take in the future and how she will develop her visual vocabulary. Will Di Du remain a label for one-off celebrity outings, or will it adopt a more practical, street-style approach? How will she deepen its explorations of femininity? Keep watching—seems like it won’t be boring.