All About Aviva Jifei Xue

By Charles Fout

The conflation of art and fashion has been hotly debated since the conception of style. For most people, clothes and art exist in entirely separate categories with no hope of crossover. Legendary fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld, drove the final nail in the coffin, ending the argument indefinitely when he said, “Art is art. Fashion is fashion.” However, Lagerfeld was never able to see Aviva Jifei Xue’s designs. 

Aviva Jifei Xue’s eponymous label closes the gap between art and clothes by taking a fabric-first approach. In the same way that Michelangelo’s David could have only been chiseled from marble rather than wood or bronze, or Picasso's Guernica needed a canvas that would cover a wall instead fitting a standard frame, Aviva Jifei Xue’s clothes can only exist in their chosen fabrics. Aviva Jifei Xue exists to highlight fabric, transforming natural fibers into art. By utilizing bespoke weaves as canvases and antique fabrics as readymades, Aviva Jifei Xue creates art by naturally dying, age processing, and carefully forming garments that reflect a myriad of inspirations.

Aviva Jifei Xue grew up in China, a country whose history goes back several millennia. After a brief time in Japan in her formative years, she returned to China and eventually moved to New York City to study menswear at Parsons.

The designer’s global background and curatorial studies shape many of the label’s design elements. The stacks of books and afghan rugs lining her studio walls make Aviva Jifei Xue’s fascination with ancient artisanal craft apparent. Even before starting her label, Aviva Jifei Xue would regularly visit antique markets on the hunt for fabrics, clothes, and rugs that were made in the times before industrialization. Her interest in hand weaving and ceremonial clothing from bygone eras inspired her to create beautiful shirts made from reworked kimonos. Eventually, she began working with manufacturers to create custom weaves for her designs based on the ancient tradition of Herat hand-woven rugs.

Material selection is paramount for Aviva Jifei Xue. A preference for Japanese mills comes from their long-standing tradition of innovation with natural fibers. A variety of wools, silks, cottons, hemps, and linens are prioritized over synthetics as the brand strives for a 100% natural fiber composition. Yak wool’s warmth and breathability interlocks with linen’s structural properties to create softly glowing twills that will stand the test of time. Linen, silk, and cotton blend velvet carries a depth of color that evolves in every light. Wool and hemp knits combine a soft hand and strength for a fabric you’ll want to wear every day. 

Rather than using a sketch book to create designs, Aviva Jifei Xue develops, treats, dyes, and finishes fabrics until the perfect medium is created. Bespoke blends of structured and elegant natural fibers are woven together, following ancient patterns to create a fabric with the perfect texture, drape and hand. Specialty fabrics are left undyed to showcase their natural beauty while others are dyed using traditional techniques. With inspiration from the color palettes of antique rugs and traditional garments, Aviva Jifeu Xue uses nature’s vast breadth of plants to add color to the clothes. With natural dyes ranging from indigo to sumi ink and Japan’s famous persimmon Kakishibu, these natural dyes are added through time intensive baths providing color with a depth that isn’t achievable with synthetic alternatives. After the dye baths, Aviva Jifei Xue fabrics still don’t quite have that antique touch, so age is added. Processes that imitate oxidation and sunlight alter the fabric to have that well worn patina while maintaining the strength of a new fabric. Occasionally fabrics are finished with wax or screen printed using natural pigment silk screenings, adding a final dimension of character to the cloth.

Once the perfect fabrics are sourced and developed, Aviva Jifei Xue forms garments using menswear standards reflecting classical art subjects— shirts become portraits and pants are like landscapes. The reason Aviva Jifei Xue is drawn to menswear standards is due to the history of craftsmanship similar to fine art. Using personal taste, shirt structure is softened and silhouettes are expanded to optimize comfort. Traditional styles also serve as a base for patterns, anchoring a throughline in Aviva Jifei Xue products and historic inspiration. 

With the craft-forward styles, Aviva Jifei Xue ensures passion is a part of every step of garment creation. Rather than using a commercial button maker, Aviva Jifei Xue opts for a ceramicist hobbyist who pores over details which add character to each unique button. Non-ceramic buttons are meticulously crafted from horn; each button carrying the same individuality as a fingerprint.  Even the dyeing is solely done by specialists. In fact, the Kakishibu dyeing plant only specializes in Kakishibu dyes, making the designer’s imagined colors spring to life. One of the main fabric designers isn’t a corporate manufacturer, but a multigenerational family business in Nagoya where fabric development is a regional specialty. There, Aviva Jifei Xue bonded with the owner’s wife who took over the practice. Before even meeting her, Aviva Jifei Xue felt drawn to the fabrics developed there stating they had a luxurious hand, crediting it to shared feminine sensibilities.  

The personality of Aviva Jifei Xue garments doesn't stop with fabric development and custom buttons, but continues with wear. Each Aviva Jifei Xue garment is made to morph over time to the wearer, continually increasing in comfort and patina as they are lived in. The roominess and ease of wearing each item comes from Aviva Jifei Xue’s personal taste. If a garment restricts movement or creates discomfort, it isn’t going to be a garment that’s regularly reached for.  

Since wearing her own garments, Aviva Jifei Xue regularly has women enter her showroom to enquire about her designs. Despite the intentional initial menswear focus, Aviva Jifei Xue clothes have developed a reputation as perfectly unisex. Military, workwear, and traditional garment inspiration transcend gender and the deep hues and robust textiles can read ambiguously masculine or feminine. The clothes made by Aviva Jifei Xue remind us again of art that can be accessed by any person.  

With the first full fledged offering arriving for the Spring Summer 2026 season, Canoe Club is excited for a limited run of Fall Winter 2025 Aviva Jifei Xue in stock now. Break the barrier between art and clothes and grab something beautiful while it lasts.