International Woolmark Prize finalist i-am-chen is an up-and-coming knitwear label that combines technical know-how with a lively, colourful approach to fashion.
Zhi Chen, the designer behind i-am-chen, dropped out of an engineering undergraduate programme to pursue her dream in fashion. After finishing her BA in Fashion Design at Donghua University, she received a national scholarship to further her study at Parsons School of Design. However, she left a year later and instead completed her MA at the London College of Fashion where she fell in love with knitwear. She founded i-am-chen immediately after graduation in 2017.
It may be the engineer in her that accounts for the designer’s fascination with knitting techniques. The label develops all of its own fabrics through yarn selection, swatch testing and designing based on testing results. Zhi pushes the limits of knitting machines, creating unique structures to show that knitwear is much more than just “fluffy clothes”, but can also be beautiful and stylish.
“We started by purchasing a second-hand knitting machine to understand how it worked, and learned as much as possible from my friend’s knitting factory. It was very hard especially in the first year because the MOQ for knitwear is 300, and factories often see knitwear as just fluffy sweaters,” said Zhi.
This means much planning and research must be completed to find out what the market wants and appropriate pricing, while the pressure to meet the MOQ also becomes a driving force to get orders.
“The reality of the 300 always haunts me so I feel like I have no choice but to make it,” That’s why i-am-chen has become successful in just two years, with more than 70 stockists globally in the UK, the US, Japan and Mainland China. Stockists include MACHINE-A, Browns, Lane Crawford, Shopbop, RESTIR and Cachet. The brand has also been featured in major design publications including Vogue, Dezeen, Harper’s Bazaar, L’officiel, Elle, Marie Claire, Grazia and Modern Weekly.
To start with, Zhi and her business partner rented a room in London and asked shops they liked to come and see her collection in this pseudo showroom. “We had no idea what we were doing but we managed to invite some good shops to come and then we did the same in Japan.” From its debut collection of around 20 items, i-am-chen now offers almost 90 items in its SS 2019 collection.
A look at the brand’s collections reveals Zhi’s design philosophy right away. “When I was studying at Parsons, I felt tired having to approach design through serious concepts like social movements. For me, I just want to show a grownup sense of innocence in my designs.”
For i-am-chen’s winning collection for the International Woolmark Prize, Zhi was inspired by the works of abstract painter Agnes Martin, whose aesthetic of simple lines and a pale palette is very much the opposite of Zhi’s. She will continue to explore different knitting techniques for the final competition, to be held in London in February.
The designer’s first patron was the Museum of Modern Art, which commissioned a knitted skirt for an exhibition item. The brand has since been recognised by the Lodz Young Fashion Award, Lane Crawford Creative Callout, Business Potential Award by Shanghai Fashion Week and Ones to Watch and the Merit Award by Fashion Scout, which sponsors the brand’s runway show during London Fashion Week for four seasons.
