Chinese designer Susan Fang was this season’s talent featured in the Supported by Dolce Gabbana initiative, a program dedicated to nurturing emerging designers by providing them with resources, guidance, and expertise from the brand’s ateliers. Fang is one of the most imaginative young Chinese designers; her creations are ravishing, with an ethereal quality that belies the incredible work that goes into their deceptively immaterial appearance.
Held at Dolce Gabbana’s headquarters, the presentation, called Air Memory, sought to capture the weightlessness of air—the most intangible of elements—through fabric and form. While this might seem like an impossible challenge, Fang’s ingenuity, matched by her technical skills, brought her remarkably close to creating garments that felt as light as air and looked like painterly clouds in motion.
Backstage, Fang said that her inspiration stemmed from a blend of Chinese cultural and visual references rich with symbolism—the colors of Chinese ceramics and jade, the artistry of Beijing’s Imperial Palace, the broken porcelain patterns of Chinese artifacts from the Song dynasty—and her mother’s artistic practice. “She started painting in her 50s after retiring,” Fang explained. A self-taught artist, her mother primarily paints landscapes and natural motifs, influenced by her farming roots; these elements were translated into sequined embroideries, while an image of her hometown was repainted onto the fabric of an elongated jacket, finely embroidered in sequins, and worn over a layered net skirt. “Having access to Dolce Gabbana’s resources has allowed us to expand our knowledge and explore new product areas, including denim, corsets, sneakers, and, for the first time, sequins,” she noted. Fang also hopes that her Milan debut will pave the way for her mother to fulfill her dream of holding her first art exhibition.
The most spectacular pieces in the show were what Fang referred to as “folded-rainbow dresses, flowing garments meant to symbolize the unseen energy of love.” Delicate gauze ribbons were intricately woven together, forming voluminous, gradient-colored concoctions that resembled otherworldly flower bouquets blossoming around the body. As they floated weightlessly down the runway, they radiated an almost magical energy.
Fang expressed her desire to celebrate “the richness of Chinese cultural artistry, the warmth of family connections, and the craftsmanship that binds these two worlds together.” In pursuit of this vision, she collaborated with mothers from the Zhuang minority in China’s Guangxi region through a charity initiative that empowers them to create handicrafts. Together, they crafted hundreds of so-called bubble dandelions from tufts of pastel-hued tulle that adorned the ethereal—and pretty sensational—gowns that opened the show.
In Chinese culture, dandelions symbolize healing, endurance, and strength—qualities Fang sees reflected in Chinese mothers and their deep connection to nature. This theme became even more personal for the designer, who is set to marry in May. To mark the occasion, her mother created three wedding dresses crafted from delicate, almost weightless Air-Flowers, and they made their way down the runway. When the day comes, Fang will certainly look radiant in one of those enchanting creations.
