Tianan Ding

I create with experimental thinking.

Born in China and grown up with hip-hop culture, I am exploring my identity as a Chinese girl in the fields of street fashion and music. 

My language is to make deconstruction and reconstruction with my insights about materials and cultures.

In my work, I celebrate the classes merge along with cultures and tastes when "streetwear becomes the new luxury", 

Meanwhile, I am concerned about the current streetwear's system. "Streetwear is not the luxury brands' marketing tool, not the rich kids' play either"

My pursuit is the democratic taste, the affordable coolness.

My work is about devaluing, revaluing, reversing the value.

A kitchen-paper-towel jacket, a leather t-shirt: these two items, with their very different, reversed materiality, are representative of my collection. 

Water is one of the materials I use, by dissolving, dripping, and fading away my garments as a metaphor of the deconstruction of structure, function and value. 

The kitchen-paper-towel jacket embodies my intention to dissolve value, to make nothing into something, or take nothing and make something of it. This isn’t exclusive fashion made from expensive fabrics. Classes merge along with cultures and tastes. 

Through the leather t-shirt, I try to reflect the current streetwear status as luxury, to represent this union of streetwear and luxury which is also a new division. My pursuit is affordable coolness, I would like to advocate the authentic wearer of streetwear, who can’t afford designer clothes.

My campaign, shot on Zoom during the lockdown, demonstrates how I perceive streetwear. Its rawness, its timeliness, and its being really honest with respect to what’s happening in the world right now.