During Xiao Qian's studies in BA Fashion Design at the University for the Creative Arts, she became fascinated with the knitting wear industry. As one of the important sectors in the manufacturing industry, it's constantly evolving with new materials, styles of knitting and machines being introduced. Enraptured by the different types of knitting machines, ideas came flooding to her.

These structures, large in their size and their power, can be fatal. At the same time, these specific machines, overwhelming as they are, are able to produce fine and delicate material. the movements of the machine's intricacies and the synthesis of two discrepant materials, cold hard metal and soft malleable fibres became the inspiration to her collection.





To capture these complexities, Xiao Qian took to a very simple palette - black, white and grey. The two inverse shades, black and white, represent the machine and the product. For the garments' silhouettes, she used draping techniques to depict the spewing flow of fabric. Bands of fabric were used to wrap around the body in varying size, thickness and shape emulating the rigidness of the machinery. Continuing with the motif of yin and ying, Xiao Qian chose polar fabrics, some lightweight, supple and almost transparent paired with or attached to heavy bonded material.