A Hand of One's Own
A chat with Lucas Randall from Aviva Jifei Xue
Aviva Jifei Xue graduated from Parsons in 2017 with a collection inspired by vintage Buddhist clothing. Based out of New York, she started her eponymous label about five years ago. Since then her work, for which she draws deeply from her upbringing between Japan and China, has not so much found as self-created its own place on the menswear landscape. Her forward-looking designs incorporate traditional aesthetics and old-world materiality — including natural fibres (hemp, wool, linen and silk), antique fabrics, and natural dyes.
That may sound familiar, but Aviva Jifei Xue is probably one of the very few brands able to attract dedicated followers of Evan Kinori and Devoa or Forme D’Expression alike, comfortably straddling the divide between the cool guy artisanal and dark knight avant-garde. Another brand from that category is Tagliovivo, the Italian masters of the leather bag, with which they — unsurprisingly perhaps, but luckily nonetheless — collaborated last year.
Some wisdoms exist not because they’re difficult to arrive at or understand but because they’re easily forgotten. And ever so often they’re easily forgotten because what they refer to is hidden in plain sight, like some sort of innocent fact we prefer not to know. When I visited Aviva Jifei Xue’s Paris showroom about two months ago — a beautiful, high-ceilinged space adorned with artisanal Afghan rugs and robust wooden furniture — she wasn’t the only person to kindly greet me. Next to her stood a gentle, seemingly somewhat shy young man. We shook hands and simultaneously said ‘Lukas’ (or, in his case, ‘Lucas’) followed by a brief moment of quiet chuckling.
Lucas Randall showed me around and told me the ins and outs of the SS26 collection (‘Impressions’). I assumed he was Aviva’s assistant, or else an employee of the agency or showroom representing the brand whenever Aviva herself was too busy. It can be rather difficult at times to know what someone’s role is in this little nook of Fashion. By god, I sometimes don’t even know mine. Because of the ease with which he spoke about the smallest details, however, I soon realized he must be some sort of insider. And yes, he definitely is.
Like Aviva, Lucas studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design, the renowned art and design college under The New School, located in Greenwich Village, New York. He works as a freelance stylist on more commercial projects and as a brand consultant, in which capacity he has been collaborating with Aviva Jifei Xue for the past two and a half years now, doing everything from design to visuals to brand development. They say that behind every major fashion designer there’s an in-house design team that’s — strategically or unwillingly but at any rate undeservedly — kept out of the public eye. A somewhat similar truth holds for designers without a large design team: they usually have a bright and light right hand.
For Aviva, Lucas is that right hand. What does that kind of creative life look like? And how do you combine it with other work for which you need both of your very own hands?
First things first: Where are you now and what are you wearing?
“Right now I’m in Greensboro, North Carolina for a shoot. I’m wearing a Wrangler jeans, a Gabriela Coll Garments long sleeve, our Aviva Jifei Xue x Shoe&Sewn “Brooklyn” shoes, a vintage belt, and a Ven.Space cap.”
Could you tell me a bit about your personal and professional self?
“I grew up in Colorado, outside of Vail and I now live in Brooklyn. I’ve been in New York City for 10 years now. After graduating I worked in retail for a little bit, then found myself experimenting with natural dyes and waxing vintage garments while starting out design consulting for a few friends’ brands. That ultimately led me to where I am now.”
And when did you start collaborating with Aviva?