Lilian Ma

Lilian Ma is a textile designer specialising in knitting and crocheting. She graduated from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology with a major in Fashion Design and Engineering.

Her works are normally inspired by natural elements such as flowers and plants, colourful insects and aquatic life. Bright colour combinations, irregular shapes or even unusual patterns spark her ideas for knitted fabrics.

During her two years at Royal College of Art, Lilian stopped taking materials and tools for granted, which helped to create something new. Especially during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the use of knitting machines and yarns in schools is restricted. Lilian started to explore non-traditional materials and techniques such as learning Arduino programming to make electronic textiles. Compared to traditional knitted textiles, her textile works are interactive and changeable rather than static and monotonous.

As a textile practitioner in the near future. She also hopes to achieve sustainable and environmental protection in the textile industry from the use of materials and technical methods. In previous projects she made bio-material yarns and explored natural dye methods instead of using dyed yarns. Lilian pays attention to the texture of the yarn also. She hopes that her works with natural elements might be interacted with the viewer both visually and tactilely.

One Day Romance -- experiments of colour discoloration and fading

The inspiration for One Day Romance comes from a Chinese flower named ‘Shaoyao’, a symbol of friendship and love that has been popular in China for thousands of years. Shaoyao is rich in species and colour. It is widely recorded in ancient Chinese literature and art painting.

There is a kind of color-changing Shaoyao whose flowering period only lasts one day. The colour changes of flower petals from dark pink to light yellow in full bloomed. This inspired me to investigate the factors that affect discoloration and fading. I found that many flowers and plants are affected by factors such as light, temperature, PH, etc., resulting in varying degrees of discoloration and fading due to the decomposition of anthocyanins.

So experiments related to colour changing are the main content of this project. By exploring different materials and dyeing methods to achieve colour changing effects. I used photochromic yarn and photochromic ink that both materials could change colour when samples are exposed to light. I also hand-dyed the crochet samples that imitated the floral structure. To make floral art pieces with a natural faded effect, I use petals as material to create colored yarns. I then knit or crochet these ‘natural yarns’ to Shaoyao-like structured samples.

This is a constantly changing project in the choice of materials and different dyeing methods. From man-made photochromic yarns to natural petal-yarns, from printing to hand dye. This project is dedicated to showing the colour changes and 3d structure of Shaoyao during different flowering periods.

During the blooming process of most flowers, the petals gradually change color from dark to light. The faded petals have inspired this collection, applied to fashion fabrics and accessories.

Wearable Accessories – Experimented with crocheting and beading on the surface. Undyed silk yarn, floret yarn, beads.

Wearable Accessories – Experimented with hand-dying and crocheting various shapes of floral petals. Undyed silk yarn, beads.

Sealed petals – Machine knitting, crochet, and beading. Mercerized cotton yarn, elastomeric yarn, cellophane yarn, abeads.

Surface fold texture – Machine knitting pleats. Mercerized cotton yarn, elastomeric yarn.

Decomposition & Composition

Inner & Outer layers

Shape & Pattern

Multi-layers & Placement

The inspiration for this collection comes from a famous Chinese flower, Shao Yao. One type of Shao Yao is named Coral Sunset which gradually fades its colour from deep pink to pale yellow as it blooms. I explored dyeing techniques in order to simulate the process of colour change of petals. And I developed the possibilities of traditional handmade techniques such as crochet, knitting, and embroidery.