I was walking down the street the other day, you know, enjoying how the Scottish winds make me feel like Mulan in battle when, suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder, scaring the bubbles out of me. ‘Hey, I noticed your braids — do you like reggae?’ It was a guy around my age. I replied ‘No.’ with emphasis on the period, and power-walked on.

Today I want to dedicate this post to just telling you a bit about the history and background of my head-full of snakes, which I’ve been proudly sporting since May. And yes I’m aware I sound like a Stepford wife about to gloat about her recipe for The Perfect Pancake, but allow. It’s time to get #Braiducated.

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Whenever I’m in London, a trip to Chinatown is a must. Not that there is a particular restaurant of supermarket I desperately need to hit up, but I just need those vibez. We ventured over on a busy LFW day, and it proved to be an adventure. Dressed in my electric suit from Renli Su, I turned into a temporary tourist attraction. Optimistic tourists passing through asked for pictures and I felt a bit like I was on Disney princess/mafia character duty. I obliged, peaceful and welcoming.

I obviously didn’t take any of it personally: it was all the suit. I first found out about Renli Su through her collab with the Dong Liang store in Beijing. Her remix of Mark Rothko’s colorplay, the elegance of Victorian-era women and her Tibetan roots made her clothes a Desirable Number One on my list – located smack center between China and the UK (which is also where my brain happens to chill most of these days.) Aesthetic-wise, her clothes take me to another era – a time where people want to express rather than impress. And I like that. A lot.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a conversation combining Chinese, German and English (Cherglish?), and have both parties understand the situation perfectly. But such was the case when I photographed Caroline outside Cafe Moebel.
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Vega Zaishi Wang shirt and pants, vintage hat from Psycho Recycle.

Vega Zaishi Wang top and skirt, shoes from Harrod and Ji.

Ricardo Tisci x Nike sneaker boots via Psycho Recycle, Vega Zaishi Wang dress.

Neemic blazer and skirt, Love Pillowbook bralette, vintage shoes from Psycho Recycle.

Chictopia jacket and skirt, vintage Vivienne Westwood platforms via Psycho Recycle.

Chictopia dress, John Peters New York backpack from Psycho Recycle.

Neemic dress, bag and shoes from Psycho Recycle.

Su Guangyu top, Converse sneakers and vintage Gianni Versace bag.

Imma use this quiet Sunday at home to finally post this: The latest styling work I did with photographer Scarlett Casciello back in Beijing for the latest KNEON!

The story spotlights 5 Chinese designers – Neemic, Vega Zaishi Wang, Love Pillowbook, Chictopia and Su Guangyu. We also pulled some pieces from the dopest vintage store in Beijing called Psycho Recycle, whose founder is coincidentally also Chinese but grew up in Vienna.

For this story, we wanted to create a narrative of this urban, young and modern Chinese girl; fashionable, cool and also in touch with her roots despite all them modernisation that has been happening in China. Model Ting was absolutely perfect for this shoot. She’s a Beijinger, but moved to the states for school, and is perfectly tasteful, bubbly and confident. More sass like this one please. We shot at Tuanjiehu Park close to Sanlitun. The place was full of elderly doing their aerobic exercises, so our shoot was a bit of a circus for them.

Anyway, the new issue dropped last week, and the response has been so happy-making. I wish I could release more issues throughout the year (I have considered bi-monthly before), but the workload is going to be crazy during this last year of uni, so I’m hesitant about being overly optimistic. For now, KNEON is remaining seasonal and digital – but this will all change very soon. Hint hint. Wink Wink. Poke Poke.

To everyone who has collaborated, read and supported this issue: XIE XIE LA. Which is Chinese for THANK YOU LA. The ‘La’ is unnecessary but connotes our bro-ship. Because we are on the same ADD/OCD creative ship. And it’s hella dizzy and I’m getting seasick but I just love this party.

Photographed by Scarlett Casciello | Styled by Victoria Jin | Hair by Liu Xiaolin | Makeup by Jiang Renzhe | Model, Ting @ Longteng models