The Cité de la dentelle et de la mode in Calais sublimates Yiqing Yin's hybridization of artistic disciplines, between grace and elegance, fluidity and movement, dreams and exploration of the senses.

"Coming back to my clothes was like living in my body and emotions again, I was home." It's with these words that Yiqing Yin sums up her approach on her showcase website. Today, the Calais-based cultural institution invites us to discover more about her and to immerse ourselves in her dreamlike work. 

This multi-disciplinary virtuoso, originally from Beijing, was the first Chinese designer to obtain the official "haute couture" label awarded by the Chambre Syndicale in 2015, ten years after creating her brand. The imaginative vision of this intuitive craftswoman, part seamstress, part art director, part costume designer and part muse, has not failed to catch the eye of the industry. 

Her sculptural works play with changing volumes, diagonals, curves, arabesques, pleats, drapery and the skilful blending of rigid and vaporous materials. Above all, they weave a delicate dialogue between the human being and nature, in a constant quest for emancipation of body and spirit.

Experimental laboratory

The "D'air et de songes" exhibition showcases his mastery at the crossroads of the arts, focusing here on the design of the dress, where "chance, the unexpected and the indeterminate" come together in a sensory voyage. "Yiqing Yin draws her inspiration from the mineral, the vegetable and the animal, creating a poetics of the living that weaves its way through the exhibition. Each creation reveals itself as a dreamlike landscape, where dreams and the awakening of the senses intertwine in an aesthetic of metamorphosis", explains curator Sylvie Marot. 

The immersive tour features her haute couture dresses, punctuated by sound textures (murmurs, rustling air), olfactory passages, photographs, films and drawings. This is Yiqing Yin's richness. A graduate of the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs de Paris (ENSAD), Yiqing Yin came to France at the age of four, stopping off in Australia before returning to France. Since then, she has devoted herself to couture. "By modernizing the smock technique and eliminating any order of construction, I'm experimenting with 'fallen' garments, in search of fluid lines," explains the prodigy.

Her breakthrough? She owes it to Yohji Yamamoto. It was when she discovered his "Just Clothes" exhibition during her student years that she decided to launch her career in 2005. Recognition was not long in coming. In 2009, she won the Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris. The following year, the Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival revealed her to the world. One thing led to another. She presented her first show at the Paris haute couture week and joined Vogue's list of "Eight Young Designers to Watch". Naturally, the awards followed in quick succession.

Creation beyond borders

Ten years of exploration and already a great designer with a promising future. The woman who in 2025 will be celebrating her fortieth birthday has acted as artistic director for the French fashion houses Leonard and Poiret. She has also created a number of women's ready-to-wear collections in her own atelier, as well as beautiful creations for clients such as Cartier, Guerlain, Hermès, Swarovski, Lancôme, Vacheron Constantin and Dominique Ropion. 

She quickly extended her field of action to include cinema and art. She appeared at the Venice Biennale (2013), dressed Audrey Tautou as mistress of ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival (2013) and Marion Cotillard for Leos Carax's musical film Annette (2021). She has also made her way onto the opera stage, as with the ballet Tristan et Yseult directed by Giorgio Mancini (2016) at the Florence Opera. She notably dressed Dorothée Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio, the Opéra Garnier dancers who held the lead roles. 

A complete artist, Yiqing Yin never ceases to reinvent haute couture, between modernity and innovation, with her silhouettes full of strength and assurance, elegance and sensuality.

"D'air et de songes"
Cité de la dentelle et de la mode
135, quai du Commerce, Calais
June 14, 2025 - January 4, 2026

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