Yilin Li
Materiality
"I belong deeply to myself. I’ve been me for so long that I can’t unlearn the language of my blood."
"The way it sings when it leaves me, when it rushes back to my heart, as if remembering a name it had forgotten to call itself." - Ocean Vuong
"We were made to be gentle. To be small. To fold ourselves into the world without breaking it."
"But look - how we shimmer anyway" - Ocean Vuong
Bio
Yilin Li is a Queens-raised, textile-based fashion designer with a background in Creative Entrepreneurship. Her work investigates materiality and craftsmanship through delicate textiles, dynamic contrasts in volume and color, and the use of natural dyes and fibers—intertwining familial cultural narratives with contemporary identity. With industry experience, she grounds her experimental practice in technical rigor, balancing production expertise with conceptual innovation. Yilin’s hands-on practice, driven by sustainability and storytelling, bridges tradition and modernity, transforming personal and collective histories into resonant fashion.
@its_yilin