2026
Art Direction, Photography
Liminal Forms
A lookbook for Liminal Forms, the SS26 knitwear collection by London-based Taiwanese designer Ying Chu. The collection maps the Taoist understanding of a soul after death — its scattering, wandering, and eventual sublimation — through garments that draw from Taoist ceremonial silhouettes, the form of the higanbana flower of the afterlife, and jacquard patterns derived from manga depictions of souls dissolving into fragments.
Three words anchored the photographic direction: scattering (飛散), bleaching (漂白), sublimation (昇華). The environment — scattered dark stone ground, a flat teal-grey void — was constructed to feel closer to ritual than to editorial. The white chrysanthemum, a flower of mourning across East Asian cultures, was introduced as a recurring element: held against the chest, tucked behind the back, eventually dropped to the ground and left. Its movement through the images traces the soul's journey without stating it directly.
𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐈𝐈 — 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥
𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐈 — 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐈𝐈 — 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐈 — 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞
𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐈𝐈 — 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦
𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐈 — 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞
𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 — 𝐕𝐞𝐢𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐭
𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 — 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡
Creative Direction & Knitwear Design by Ying Chu
Model by Spencer Sampson at xdirectn
Art Direction & Photography by Haruna Hayasaki