One of the hottest jewellery brands in Asia didn’t even start out with making jewellery. At its infancy, YVMIN was a studio for odd objects – glasses, masks, sculptures even – not necessarily pieces that fit entirely under the definition of ‘jewellery’ or ‘object’.
It all began in 2012 when founders Min Li (李忞) and Xiaoyu Zhang （曉宇）were students at the famed Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing studying design in fashion and accessories respectively.
Li Min (left) and Xiaoyu Zhang (right) created the name “YVMIN” by combining their surnames
Photo: YVMIN
When the International Youth Designers Fashion Show rolled around in 2015, they officially established YVMIN as a brand. For a few years, Min and Zhang operated with the mindset to create everything that they liked, but in Zhang’s own words, the brand became “plentiful” but “messy” as a result. With that in mind, they began to cut product lines that didn’t convey their core ideals.
But what exactly are YVMIN’s core ideals?
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To Li and Zhang, every new jewellery piece begins with things that have sparked their interest of late. Just the week prior to the interview, it was the handmade wooden shark that their friend’s 5-year-old son wore as a necklace.
Li Min was inspired by little Nadou who wore a wooden necklace he made himself
Photo: Li Min
Taking inspiration from how people express themselves through accessories on the everyday is something that has continuously sparked the pair’s interest even before establishing their brand.
Li explains, “Jewellery punctuates our social interactions as symbols that convey a message. When you are less than 45cm apart from someone else, jewellery begins to sing and capture the other person’s attention because 4 cm is regarded as a comfortable distance between two people. If someone’s too close during an interaction, you might tense up, and feel defensive or repressed. But if it’s someone you like, your heart rate might quicken.”
Carrying on the philosophy imparted to them while at CAFA, they’ve come to view jewellery not for its material value but the way it makes meaning to the person who wears it. “We’ve always believed that the value in jewellery is not predicated on how expensive the jewel is, or how much gold it has, but rather on what the piece means to you…as you wear the piece, your interaction with it creates value,” Li explains.
Such is true for their Paradise collection characterised by teddy bear designs. Drawing on universal memories of children’s toys, the teddy bear is meant to evoke a sense of joy and ease reminiscent of childhood. The use of a fuzzy toy as jewellery is unconventional but perfectly exudes the feeling of youth it’s meant to share. One of the collection’s highlight pieces is a teddy bear zircon necklace, which hung around Li’s neck during the interview and was also spotted on Bella Hadid. Apart from Hadid, trendsetting global stars Blackpink, New Jeans, Billie Eilish, and more have flaunted YVMIN designs in album photoshoots, magazine covers or as part of their personal wardrobe.
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Of all the innovative creations birthed from their brand, it is perhaps the collaboration with Xiaoyang in 2021 that has become the most enduring in people’s minds. A model and influencer, Xiaoyang had been wearing her prosthetic leg for almost two decades. Growing up, it felt like a hindrance to her when she always wanted to express herself through fashion. It became clear early in the collaboration that the goal was never to mask Xiaoyang’s leg as what it was not, but to beautify it, incorporating it into her wardrobe. What came about was something entirely unique to Xiaoyang – three chrome ‘shells’ for her prosthetic leg, one with a heart-knee cap, another in ripple shapes and the last adorned with white flowers.
When the design hit the Internet, it felt like a turning point for many in how they perceived prosthetic limbs. Countless were impressed, noting its sleek design, and many others wanted one for themselves as well as seen on the Instagram posts’ rapturous comments.
Tailored to Xiaoyang’s edgy style, the prosthetics are one-of-a-kind and made for the moment. This ethos is also apparent in another special project – “Family Photo” – a jewellery piece tailored to Xiaoyu’s pregnant body. Neither designs were just about making something beautiful, instead both used accessorisation to empower people to embrace their bodies as they were.
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As Xiaoyu shares on Instagram, “At 5-6 months of pregnancy, I began to fall in love with my belly, and the foetal movements became more and more obvious before realizing that the baby was really coming. I began to plan how to welcome him.”
Combining Zhang, Li and the baby’s Chinese zodiac signs, a snake curls around the neck down to the belly. Linked by the tail, a small tiger climbs down Xiao’s chest and an S-shaped dragon completes the piece. Just as how the dragon and snake protects the tiger, Zhang and Li’s love for their son is both poetic and fierce as we see through the art piece.
Crafted by Li with 1789g sterling silver and 5149 zircons hand inlaid, it took 3.5 months from conception to completion. No, it’s impossible to wear the piece again, but the “family token” will always be the sweetest reminder of the moments before their son was born. Just as the two of them intended.
Now, their relationship is three-fold: business partners, life partners and new-parents — so how do they balance it all? Speaking with candour, Li shares, “Since we don’t have a clear division of work and we’re both designers, so arguments arise. Slowly we’ve found a balance, and it’s better than before, but it’s… “better”, not necessarily “perfect”.” It becomes even more difficult when their thinking process clashes too. “Xiaoyu is wildly imaginative,” Li begins, “ To me, all her ideas are illogical. In the beginning, I would think that these things were unsupported , illogical and even crazy. But later I realised that she possessed qualities I didn’t.” Gradually, they managed to find a way that works for them – During the conceptual phase, Zhang largely contributes the ideas, while Li evaluates feasibility of each product. Splitting the work for every part of the process is how they work best.
When asked about struggles towards a “successful” creative career, Li takes a huge sigh. “In some ways, it’s hard, but I enjoy [the process].” Any person who has grown up in an Asian household would understand the challenges of pursuing a career that goes against the norms of a lucrative and stable career path. But in the tone of a hopeful founder, perhaps buoyed with the excitement of being a new parent, Li talks about his creative endeavours with pride.
“I think that everyone in this team is maximising their potential”, Li beams confidently, “I have friends in merchandising…as founders they spend more time thinking about how to grow their company with the goal of expansion. I actually thought about this question for a while, but I was never compelled to do the same.” To him, creating something with mass appeal means that what makes a brand special has been lost. Instead, he would rather his clients stay within a certain number and for each to truly be moved by YVMIN. “At the same time this means that we are creating the most value, “Li elaborates, “I don’t want to look back on my brand one day to find that I’m no longer moved, that’s not the direction I hope for.”
As for the future? YVMIN hopes to release bags and clothing that stay true to their avant-garde spirit.
Editor
Karrie LamCredit
Lead Image: @yvmin_official via Instagram
