Xander Zhou Serves Modern Proper Don at Its FW24 “Sciremony”

By editor
April 9, 2024

Xander Zhou isn’t attracted to trends. The obscure designer and self-declared “observer from the future” otherwise relies on several clothing brands and uniforms to create his ethereal silhouettes and accompanying narratives. At, showcased its set under the brand’s Xander Zhou PRO couture section. Using style as the method to describe an ongoing tale, the collection twists” Science” and” Ceremony” into a futuristic disguise ball.

Xander Zhou Pro, FW24, Shanghai Fashion Week, Collection, Runway, AI, Interview

The designer often thinks about technological innovation as he approaches his collection ideas through fanciful design thinking, which is constantly drawn to the realities of online and offline worlds. We speak with Zhou about the ideas for his most recent production, his opinions on the future of AI, and how to coax figures to reveal universal principles in style.

What is straight then inspiring you?

An empty story line that I have in my mind while making any series, including this one, is what inspires me when making one. It constantly has an expanding design in my mind, and it keeps coming up with visible images that I then use as inspiration.

Who are your figures this year and how were they born? Typically, you start your choices by designing a group of figures.

This year I wanted to make a more ceremonial set, so I called it “Sciremony”, a luggage of the terms “science” and “ceremony”. The series evokes a potential masquerade ball or celebration. I wanted to find some contemporary proper wear. a synthesis of a uniform and automated aesthetic. How to dismantle space and time has always been something I’ve been trying to do, by having related elements appear in strange places at once. My collection from last season was displaying a kind of scientific development. This period feels more like a service, with a bit of spirituality, a sense of sci- bi romance and yet a little bit of Chinese romanesque. Xander Zhou Pro, FW24, Shanghai Fashion Week, Collection, Runway, AI, Interview
What about the prospect at the moment most appeals to you? What frightens you the most?

Maybe the fact that the universe will be a turning point in human past if we are to pass through it in our lifetimes. We are unable to foresee or think what will happen to us after it occurs, or what will our lives look like. I don’t know if I feel excited or scared. I’d prefer to put these feelings aside and focus instead on observation and research. I tend to know about what’s coming in the future, to offer myself the opportunity to be prepared. I hope that I may have learned much about it before it all comes, so that I may have a decision before I do so. As long as I have a option, I will not be worried. Xander Zhou Pro, FW24, Shanghai Fashion Week, Collection, Runway, AI, Interview
You’ve said that you’re an “observer from the potential”. Can you elaborate on your research and design process and where do you hope to inspire your upcoming style looks?

The entire process is similar to working on a study job. When I’ve decided on a direction, I’ll first consider the collection’s structure properly, sort of like a movie script with a clear vision. Once that is established, I begin creating the figures. I watch a lot of technical stories, pictures and videos and I’m inspired by the appearance of materials that aren’t clothing. Whatever inspires me in those items, becomes the elements that make up the characters.

Fashion trends don’t attract me. I enjoy the sense of character that comes from clothes uniformization. This period, I’ve generally only used pretty formal elements, which to me just visit out “uniform”. Finally, there is also textual evaluation. Every year, I spend a lot of time researching and discussing the course of words and texts with my writers. I think this part is really vital. Words are a more logical form of instruction, so I need to follow them because they must be objective, yet comprehensive, and the texts ‘ writing style must be in range with my design aesthetics. They ought to learn a lot like a” Product Manual.”

How did you first come to be interested in the crossroads of technology and style?

I needed a fresh creative environment that wouldn’t let me be in a setting free from sluggish trends. I wanted to use an independent structure to represent the images that are in my mind, but I created a place that is near to a virtual world. In fact, fashion is just a method for me, it’s like a program for visual display. With the help of technologies, I can broaden the limitations of this platform, also across various spaces. The other was a result of a natural choice. Xander Zhou Pro, FW24, Shanghai Fashion Week, Collection, Runway, AI, Interview
Your choices are the result of a lot of theoretical design thinking. Do you believe that imagining the prospect makes it easier to act now, and how is AI influencing this method for you?

It’s challenging to make speculative predictions about the future. My models are just a thesis. They could even be used to dramatize a situation. A situation that may be based on current scientific developments, but ultimately proves to be far off the mark. We are interested about the prospect. We react to a variety of potential data, and this interaction will help us deal with a variety of unforeseeable events that may occur in the future. AI may be able to imagine collected data more quickly and effectively, but for the time being that’s all. How we study, apply and also practice this information, determines the direction of our coming. In reality, it’s not the systems that will really change our future, it’s our sentiments and choices. However, it can sometimes be difficult for us to reason because of our own selfishness and greed. Xander Zhou Pro, FW24, Shanghai Fashion Week, Collection, Runway, AI, Interview
For a number of factors, consumer sentiment has been up and down in relation to AI for the past month. How do you feel about the crossroads of fashion and AI now and in the near future, despite the constant website mess of new media formats?

At the moment, style and AI are generally stuck in the level of physical display. Those kind of appearance, through large online distribution, create emergence. At the same time, it may induce homogenization, but these could be problems related to the initial stage. As I already mentioned, many new things call for a procedure, so learning and understanding is a good place to start. I believe that systems in style will eventually lead to more useful inventions. Instead of just being a wonderful decoration, they will make fashion actually become a second skin or armour.

If you could make any piece of hardware to improve human capabilities, regardless of funds or restrictions, what do you produce?

Something that would allow you to alter your look, one that is not affected by your genes but one that is in line with your own understanding of yourself.

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