Academic Designer Zou You

Ph.D., China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Professor of Beijing Institute Of Fashion Technology.

Devoted to the practice and research of fashion design and design management, participated in a large number of art and design projects, and released many personal fashion show on China fashion week.

In 2005, Zou You founded his own YOUZ, Zou You's first overseas personal conference in Busan, Korea. After being invited by Vogue magazine in 2011, she went to Milan to participate in the Talented Designers Exhibition hosted by her.

Zou You's design always emphasizes "This is YOU 'Z clothing" (this is your clothes), YOUZ has opened stores in many cities throughout the country.

Zou You didn't like to be labelled.

In fact, he has many labels, such as "academic designer", "famous designer" and "top ten".

And so on.

Compared with all kinds of labels, he prefers to call himself Designer -- the word can be split into "Design+er". Design and people are people who do design. He also doesn't exclude others from calling him designer because his understanding of designers is "design + teacher", which is both a design and a teacher.

He just doesn't like to add attributive words to the designer to give himself the next conclusion, which would be "very boring".

"Your clothes"

"This is YOU 'Z clothing" (this is your dress) is a symbolic note of Zou you.

This YOU is "you" instead of him, it is "he" and not all of him. Maybe it is a bit awkward, but it is the true portrayal of Zou You's design clothing: the consumer is the protagonist, and the designer becomes the supporting role.

Unlike many designs that emphasize visual effects, Zou You's design gives people a sense of indifference.

Not too much decoration, no complex color, no gorgeous and exaggerated, or even buttons.

The use is also reduced to the minimum. His design always uses a simple design to achieve the effect of comfortable clothing, but there is a way to see through everything calmness and atmosphere.

In addition to minimalism in design, "Modernity" is also highly appreciated by Zou You.

This modernity is not only a design technique, but also an expression of the present living environment.

"People will be influenced by a lot of information in the current environment. Designers, too, are concerned about certain information in this era. Clothing is a manifestation of externalization, and it is also true for people who design clothes," he said.

Zou You believes that people can get the common language from clothing by seizing the resonance and resonance of human emotion in the current environment.

However, he had also been worried whether this too simple and modern style could be accepted by people. It turned out that this worry was unnecessary. The recognition and welcome of these quiet and simple clothes exceeded his expectations, and many people found their own clothes in his design.

Don't be afraid of commercialization.

"The greatest value and significance of design lies in the use and the good user experience after use," Zou You said. If there is no use value and good user feedback, the design will depreciate.

Unlike those designers who are stuck in the ivory tower and do not hear anything out of the window, Zou is used to going out, opening up with curiosity and accepting more information and new things. In his view, if he does not understand what has happened in the world, how can he talk to the world and how to talk to consumers? This open mentality has allowed Zou You to consider commercialization from the beginning of design.

"Many designers feel that design is very personal and even has a sense of superiority. If their own things are not accepted by others, they still feel that other people's appreciation ability is not good enough. In fact, designers should be introspective!" Zou You believes that commercial behavior is not to fetter the shackles and shackles of designers, but rather to give designers limited space to let designers solve problems -- and solving problems is the essence of design.

At the same time, Zou You also believes that business is not only making money, it is a fair exchange of principles, but it reflects consumers' trust in designers. Therefore, "standing in the perspective of others is the most important way of behavior for designers."