Based in Los Angeles for seven years, designer Hanchen Xu has just presented the first collection of his Xüxü fashion brand. A first for this former architect-turned-fashion designer, Xu chose to present his line on a California volcano. California is home to more than twenty volcanoes, all of which have been extinct for thousand of years. A unisex and accessible luxury collection made in tribute to the French volcanologist couple, Katia and Maurice Krafft.

FashionNetwork: How do you go from being an architect to a fashion designer?
 
Hanchen Xu: My architecture background influences my fashion design heavily. I directly take the technical skill sets I acquired from practicing architecture and apply them to all aspects of my fashion design process. For example, my team members found it funny when I made a physical model for the volcano runway and instructed them how we were going to shoot the runway by playing it out on the model. They told me “You still think like an architect!” It’s a blessing to be equipped with the knowledge of all kinds of 2D and 3D software and it helps me move into fashion easily. 

FNW: For your first collection you had your models walking on a real volcano. How was this volcano story born?
 
H.X: My dear architecture teacher and friend Mary Casper referenced films a lot when I was a student. Last year in summer, I was hanging out with her when she recommended this beautiful documentary ‘Fire of Love’ to me. It is about two French volcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft travelling around the world documenting volcano eruptions. Most of the footage in the documentary were captured by the Kraffts themselves. The imagery is so awesome and it has haunted me ever since. I reference their materials a lot when I started designing the collection later. I was also deeply moved by the story behind their camera. The couple were so obsessed with volcanoes that they didn’t even care about the risk of being killed by the eruptions at any time. That really empowered me to pursue my fashion dream. 
 
FNW: Who is the Xüxü brand targeted at? 
 
H.X: Xüxü plays on my last name Xu and is pronounced ‘Shoo-Shoo’. The brand is for the people who are looking for authentic inspiration in a rules-driven world. Xüxü is an accessible luxury and fun brand that tells a new story with every collection. Stories that truly inspire our community with bravery, passion and spectacles. I am targeting a community who craves inspiration as a catalyst to pursue their own dreams. I place no limits on who can access this inspiration, so I design every piece as gender neutral.

FNW: Is the fashion that you imagine linked to your two influences, Chinese from Shanghai and American from Los Angeles?
 
H.X: It’s interesting when people tell me they can see the Chinese influence in my imagery. I think they are probably right. Looking back, I was always immersed in the color palette of traditional Chinese culture. There’s so much red in the physical environment I grew up in, and that has always been my favorite color. I think it’s also the people back home and the friends I made here in Los Angeles that influence my fashion in many unconscious ways. Thanks to my very connected childhood friend and photographer for XüXü, Yuanbo Chan, I fell in deep love with Renhang’s photography, then Donald Judd and Ellsworth Kelly, and every aspects of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies. 
 
FNW: How does one go about producing a fashion brand without going to fashion school?
 
H.X: As a young architect, I am a designer at heart. A big portion of practicing architecture is wearing the hat of a producer. From design to manufacturing, visual production, sales and marketing, I still work in the architect way, figuring out what the project is and bringing the right people together at the right time to actualize what I plan and draw on my paper. Bringing all the connections together is also another key to my process. I am lucky that I was born into a family of fabric artisans. My entire mom’s family are fabric producers, fabric engineers, dyers, printmakers, and fashion business owners. 
 
FNW: Who are the industry players you turned to in Los Angeles? And who is supporting you today?
 
H.X: Today, most of the supports are still my friends and family, who offer satellite support like the creative process, manufacturing, and marketing. I have support from my PR firm MVPR, and advice from the founder of fashion brand WMWM back home in Shanghai. I also have the support of USC FIA, a fashion student organization from my school USC. 

FNW: Did you immediately find investors to help you?
 
H.X: I made some investments in LA when I was in school, which gave me the seed money for the collection launch. I am looking for investors now to scale the business. 
 
FNW: What are the next steps awaiting you in launching your brand? How do you dream of the future?

H.X: Alongside my e-shop, I’m targeting distribution in physical stores in LA and NYC as Mohawk and Dover Street Market stores, so more of my customers can feel my design up close and personally. I dream of designing my own retail stores and runway sets so my community can be fully immersed and inspired in the world of Xüxü.