n 2020, in the early stages of the pandemic, 27-year-old Guangzhou-based Yueqi Qi travelled to Milan as one of the only two Chinese designers who were invited to be part of the inaugural edition of Gucci Vault, an experimental online space created by the brand’s then-creative director Alessandro Michele which showcases one-off pieces created by emerging independent designers using Gucci materials and restored archived pieces from the house. Each designer was also asked to submit a short film alongside their work. When the Kering brand reached out to Qi, her brand was less than a year old and she had no experience of film-making, but she managed to put together a poetic film about a character based on herself
