One to Watch: Claudia Li’s Showstopping Fall ’16 Denim

Label: Claudia Li

Need to Know: After facing tumult in her own life head-on last year, for her sophomore NYFW outing, designer Claudia Li riffed on the idea of self-preservation, of rebirth in the face of hardship. Boasting a background in fine arts, and having cut her teeth as the womenswear designer at J.W.Anderson, New Zealand–raised Li’s minimalism is of a warm stripe. Fall finds her embracing styles with varying sorts of cocoon-like appeal: wide strips of fabric, knotted to armor-like effect; belled sweater cuffs; deep, sculptural folds. If on paper those ideas sound heavy, make no mistake: Li’s got a beautiful eye for lightness. One voile shirtdress you could see becoming a wardrobe staple, while softly fraying cream tulle spilled out from under those flared cashmere sleeves, and long panels added a beautiful sense of movement to the sleeves of a coat in dusty mauve. Where Li will no doubt inspire legions of followers, though, is with her denim. Sourced from both Italy and L.A., here it came whipped into raver-esque mega-flares, a trench, and—most showstoppingly—a jean jacket that bore dramatic, almost Victorian sleeves made up of hundreds on hundreds of bunched indigo yarns.

Where to find it: Li’s stockists are still TBD—but what we can say is that the designer is in the process of confirming some top-tier, tastemaking retailers.

For more information: Visit claudia-li.com.