Luly Yang Interview

July 6, 2:22 PMSeattle Fine Arts ExaminerSteve Clare

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Earlier this year Teatro ZinZanni announced to the world that they are to collaborate with Seattle couture designer Luly Yang,  for their new production “Bottega ZinZanni: All Dressed Up with Some Place to Go.” She will design 13 original pieces for the show which begins June 25th. 

Luly Yang is known for her amazing couture gowns that grace the windows of her Seattle boutique in The Fairmont Hotel, she’s also been voted “Seattle’s Best Dress Designer” for five consecutive years by Seattle Bride Magazine and recently opened a second salon in Beijing in November 2008.

We caught up with her and asked her about ZinZanni, working with acrobats as opposed to catwalk models, and somehow, the conversation got round to the differences between the form of the Chinese female and the American female.

SFAE: How did the collaboration with Teatro ZinZanni come about?

LULY YANG: It was a phone call from Louise from Teatro. It was actually her idea to invite us to be a part of this, so I give her credit for that.

SFAE: Did you know about Teatro ZinZanni before Louise called?

LULY YANG: I did. I went to one of their shows three or four years ago.

SFAE: Have you designed for something like this before? Have you ever designed for an acrobatic performance?

LULY YANG: I have never done costumes for theatre before.  I specialize in couture bridal gowns and gowns for evening wear, so this is something very new.

SFAE: There must be some unique challenges involved in designing for people who are leaping about. What new challenges have you faced?

LULY YANG: I used to be a fitness instructor so I’m very aware of anatomy and physiology, so that helped me in designing for them knowing that they were athletes and acrobats. However, I was not familiar with the detail of their acts when we began the project so there was a lot of modifications that had to happen after production had already begun. We’d say “Oh, this is what they’re doing, so this zipper won't work in this location because they’ll cut up their back if we put a zipper in the back.” There are a lot of little details that are normal with this trade that you just get used to. You just have to expect changes towards the end of the fittings.

SFAE: Are you living in fear that they’ll break things and you’ll get emergency calls about how to repair costumes?

LULY YANG: I hope that they last, but I know they do quite a few shows a week so we’re expecting to have to do some repairs. But they have an amazing costume shop there for last minute repair, so I feel pretty confident between the two houses that we can take care of it. But we never know.  I just hope they don’t break their bones! I just saw the show last night and some of the things these performers do is absolutely amazing. It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen… just amazing!

SFAE: People who are going to watch the show and are interested in fashion, what pieces would you recommend they particularly keep an eye out for? What pieces scream Luly Yang?

LULY YANG: The piece that is most Luly is the piece that Vita wears in the fashion show.  It’s a very sensual, chiffon piece.  It’s an umber color that runs from nude to aubergine to purple. So that’s probably my favorite piece that represents me the most.

SFAE: Did you know much about Liliane Montevecchi before Teatro ZinZanni approached you?

LULY YANG: I did not because I’m not in the theatre trade, but I did read a lot about her and she has an amazing history. I’m very impressed by her.  We started designing for her through phone consultations because she lives in New York, so I just recently met her a couple of weeks ago when we were doing her fittings. It’s been a pleasure getting to know her.

 
SFAE: You recently opened a Salon in Beijing, is it strange doing business in a politically restricted atmosphere like China?

 LULY YANG: I was born in Taiwan, and I speak some Mandarin so I figured with the language connection it would be more familiar, but as I went deeper into building the business I found there were so many rules for business owners. Not just with banking, but applying for licenses and everything else.  There are a lot of steps. There was quite a bit of bureaucracy. In America you can transfer funds to vendors quite easily without proving to the government that you have a contract. But in Beijing you have to prove that you have contracts to transfer monies to be able to move money from your own account into another account.  So I couldn’t freely transfer funds from my Beijing store to my Seattle store.  There would be a lot of steps one would have to take.

SFAE: Is there any difference in designing clothes for people who are of Asian build versus people who are Caucasian?

LULY YANG: There are differences because the bodies are different. We notice that even with the fashion models that are the same height and measurement as the American models here. They just have totally different body shapes, even though they have the exact same height and measurements. So we definitely notice that, and it’s definitely different designing for a Chinese body. In America we have many different body types, but it’s definitely different. They also like different styles.  Because I do couture every client is different, but if I had to generalize, I’d say the Chinese don’t typically like super low cuts in the chest and neckline, but in the US I ‘m able to cut a little lower there.  However, the hemline can go shorter for Chinese clients. They love short, short dresses!

SFAE: Do you think this has to do with how women see themselves in each of these cultures?

LULY YANG: I think so, it’s just more acceptable to show more leg than chest in the Chinese culture. Here, especially in Hollywood, you tend to see a lot of very low, low cuts and that’s acceptable and normal.

SFAE: How do you see Seattle as a center for fashion?

LULY YANG: Seattle is a soft-spoken fashion city. It’s not super loud in the way people dress.  I find that a lot of my clients have very high taste and want the best materials and textiles and proportions, but they don’t want to be loud about it.  So there are not a lot of bells and whistles on tops, but they want good construction, and good design and I see that also holds true in architecture and art in this area. It all carries over.

SFAE: What was your favorite part about the show at Teatro ZinZanni?

LULY YANG: That’s so hard! The whole thing! I think my favorite part though was how animated and very funny it was and how it appealed to all the senses. I think Vita was amazing. Her opening with the hula-hoops was amazing. She’s very sensual and I love the way she moves. She’s wonderful. And also the vertical tango with Sam and Sandra where they do a dance in the air on the pole was very impressive. I brought my parents from China, and I have never seen my mom laugh so hard in her life. It was so refreshing for them to see something like this because you don’t see anything like this in Asia.

SFAE: What’s next for Luly Yang?

LULY YANG: My next big project started about two months ago.  I’m finishing up and designing my collection for the October 9th couture fashion show, which is being held in the Fairmont Hotel.  I do it every year and it’s a fundraiser for Camp Korey. It’s an old world collection. Last year we did “20-20” which was about vision and this year we’re going back in history and looking at art from the past; it’s an interpretation of Michelangelo’s collection.