Kaiyao Li
Collection
Ideation
Siddhartha uncovers for me that life is a journey with no rights or wrongs defined. Experience itself is the most precious for each one of the journey, within which there will inevitably be individual differences to be respected but not judged. Everyone is striving to escape from the loop according to Buddhist doctrines, that life will circle on until one is out of the loop and become enlightened. To me it is also a process of disenchantment from passion from hate, stripping from the so-called “seven emotions and six desires”, to discover the true essence of life, which is to experience, to enjoy the power of presence, the power of now.
The corresponding experience happened to me as happened to Siddhartha in the book triggered me to re-utilize knowledge from freshmen and sophomore year. In the materiality development, I used laser-cut pantagon pieces to puzzle up shapes of semi-polyhedrons to construct volumes and wrinkles when sewn straight with a piece of plain fabric, which visually impacted me as a emotion delivering tools, an incarnation of strength, an arcane power.
Scene One: Inception
"Embark"
Fleeing from privilege,
onward from books.
Fleeing from privilege,
onward from books.
"Samana"
Awakened from suffering,
resolved to journey.
Awakened from suffering,
resolved to journey.
Scene Two: Journey
"River"
The power of presence,
strength of now
The power of presence,
strength of now
"Kamala"
Abyss of indulgence,
love fame and mundane
Abyss of indulgence,
love fame and mundane
Scene Three: Enlightenment
"Suicide"
The devastating dawn,
before sobering sunrise.
The devastating dawn,
before sobering sunrise.
"Enlight"
Disenchantment from exterior,
sobriety from within
Disenchantment from exterior,
sobriety from within
Bio
Kaiyao is a self motivated professional designer in his senior year at Parsons School of Design, graduating Spring 2022 BFA in fashion design and creative entrepreneurship.With a mission to define human emotions and philosophies through the business of fashion, Kaiyao has actively participated in various creative endeavors. Aside from his work experience and capability in fashion marketing and analysis, he has the depth of knowledge to establish a relationship between brand identity and clientele satisfaction. His determination to bridge the gap between traditional marketing aspects and new business approaches projects him a step ahead from his generation.