Allina Liu SS27: ‘The Clearing’

Photography by Moment Dept.

Sometimes we need to wander and get lost in order to find ourselves again. Regardless, life goes on with or without you. Allina Liu embraces this concept in her SS27 collection, The Clearing. Here, the Chinese designer taps into an edgier side of her soft, coquette-like design process.

“Into the woods. Into rock. Into repetition, exhaustion, dirt, cold air,” Liu says. “To climb until the noise gets quiet. The Clearing sits somewhere between exposure and protection. Between being lost and choosing to get lost. Chinese knot cutouts appear throughout the collection as symbols of tension and connection. Things pulled tight, held together, tangled, then loosened.”

Photography by Moment Dept.

Garments blend in with the natural elements: skirts, denim, outerwear, dresses, and more, radiating neutral and vibrant hues of blue, brown, orange, and green. Liu continues her signature soft touch on pieces with details of lace, drawstrings, bows, and ballooning. The Clearing also taps into a more gender-nonconforming look, with loose, baggy, relaxed-fit pieces.

Throughout the presentation, models stood atop small grass and moss hills, reminiscent of the cyclical nature of life and the force of adaptation.

“You keep moving,” she says. “Things fall away. Eventually the trees break and the light changes, and somehow you realize you’ve made it somewhere else. Not untouched. Just through.”