School of Design and Creative Industries
Design White

BA Graphic & Digital Design

Yuexan Li

My work showcased below is about transformation – translating Kintsugi restoration into wearable physical clothing. I firmly believe that the best eco-friendly design is to endow clothes with an emotional weight that transcends trends. When stories live in clothes, fast fashion loses its allure.

Perfection in Imperfection

Full shot of the "Perfection in Imperfection" showcase, with a denim jacket on a wooden hanger and a white-and-green dress on a mannequin are posed in front of a mint green background. Both clothing pieces have gold designs woven throughout the pieces.
A white dress on a mannequin with green and gold embellishments throughout.
Blue denim jacket laying on a table with metallic gold and silver embellishment pieces affixed to the jacket.
Close-up shot of a blue denim jacket laying on a table with metallic gold and silver embellishment pieces affixed to the jacket.

I combined the old cheongsam from my mother’s wedding with the restoration of kintsugi. The classic kintsugi craft is adapted to cheongsam and denim, turning damaged clothing into radiant beauty. It inherits the oriental aesthetics of imperfection and advocates sustainable consumption to resist the throwaway culture of fast fashion. Restoration is not about returning to perfection, but about making imperfection, cracks, and past experiences a unique and shining part of us.

view other work

Design

The BA Graphic and Digital Design programme is rooted in experimentation across digital and analogue media, deep collaboration and a focused engagement with visual and material culture. We are a community of visual thinkers and makers, passionate about typography and language, narrative and storytelling, motion graphics and moving image, art direction, photography and image making. We understand design as broad and complex, multi-layered and detailed, crafted and accidental. Combining professional practice and creative research with technical skills, our programme develops curious students into designers of the future. See further details on our prospectus page.