East Meets West - Fei Liu

Fei Liu’s passion for creativity and art was apparent from an early age – a passion that began a life’s journey, which would shape and influence his unique design style and a similarly distinguished career.

Always showing an interest in art, Fei enjoyed drawing and painting throughout his childhood. This interest fast became love when, at the age of 11, he was introduced to Western art styles such as oil and acrylic painting. With a whole new creative language to learn and to inspire him, Fei soon realised that he wanted to pursue his fascination with the arts as a career.

While visiting Hong Kong at the age of 19, Fei’s eyes were opened to the wealth of directions exposed to him in the world of art and design. In particular, he became transfixed by gemstones – by their value and the idea that no two stones were ever the same. Upon his return from Hong Kong, Fei’s mind was made up and his first steps in the jewellery industry decided.

Combining his love for gemstones and art, Fei chose to study a degree at Birmingham’s prestigious School of Jewellery. After completing his BA in Jewellery and Silver smithing, he was equipped not only with the tools he needed to design jewellery but with the ability to question, challenge and to reinvent.

Since the company’s launch in 2006, Fei Liu Fine Jewellery has grown from strength to strength in both the United Kingdom (UK) and international markets. Fei has collected a variety of awards. In April 2009, east met west when Fei launched his flagship store in Beijing. Since then, he has opened a second concession in Beijing, and a further two stores in Chendu and Hangzhou. Fei Liu has become the first jewellery designer in the UK to have a standalone store in China.

To walk the tight rope between creativity and business is no easy feat but Fei does it with finesse like no other. They say that optimism and will power play a pivotal role in achieving great success and Fei’s achievements are a proof of it as he is one of the most positive and determined fashion designers we have ever met. He has a pleasing personality and his demeanour exudes warmth. He has a deep persona and has a prominent philosophical side. One look at his designs and you know that his designs are an extension of his own personality. His designs are full of elaborate details, dramatic and remarkable. Fei Liu’s vivid imagination sparkles through all his creative designs. When asked him to share his inspiration with us, he says, “What inspires me the most, I think, is everyday life. The beauty hidden in the detail of individual everyday objects and everyday sights – things which may be overlooked but which a designer such as myself might notice and pay attention to.”

While sharing more his company, he articulates, “I founded Fei Liu Fine Jewellery in 2006, shortly after I won my first award – a Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship and Design Award. To be given the award at such an early stage in my career was a wonderful compliment as they are very prestigious in the UK and are almost like the Oscars of the British jewellery industry. I have also been awarded the Kayman Award, the Lonmin Design Innovation Award, and I have been shortlisted for the last three years for ‘UK Jewellery Designer of the Year’. Each nomination is very humbling. My work has been awarded for both visual design and technical strength, which is very important to me, as a good design is nothing unless it is also a good product.”

He further added, “My two biggest achievements to date would have to be forming my wonderful team, and also opening our flagship store in Beijing in 2009. I was the first UK-based designer to have a standalone store in China and the rate of expansion we have seen in that market has been incredible. In 2011 I was named as ‘Jewellery Designer of the Year’ by Harper’s Bazaar China, which was the most wonderful thing to happen – to be recognised so highly for my work in my home country after only two years.”

But, things were not always so bright for Fei and he has faced rejections like all of us have. When asked to share an interesting anecdote from his earlier career days from which he has learnt important business traits, Fei is in deep thought. He then takes us down the memory lane and shares; “I think it would have to be when I worked as a designer for Tie Rack, before I formed the company. The first presentation of new collections, which I presented to the buyer, was not successful – actually, it was not successful at all. The buyer was furious and totally against the product that I had developed. I had used every element of what I thought contemporary jewellery was ‘supposed’ to be and applied it to my design process. That was the first lesson that I learnt about design – that a good product does not necessarily mean a good design. A good product often has to mean a design, which the market will see as something new, which customers will buy into and which will sell in high volume. I realised that if I think something is good, that view does not necessarily match the views of Tie Rack’s market – so I visited three Tie Rack stores over a weekend, to try and understand exactly what was already popular, what the brand of this retailer wanted to offer and what their specific market needed. Two months later, I brought a new collection to show the buyer of Tie Rack. I presented the now famous ‘paper clip’ cufflinks, ‘ruler’ cufflinks and tie bars. Not only was the buyer very happy with the new design, it also marked the first successful order of a product that I had designed. The products were on sale for six or seven years, and famous UK department store Debenhams ordered 20,000 pairs of ‘paper clip’ cufflinks. It showed me that market research is the strongest foundation of a successful design and commercial product.”

When quizzed if that is one of the difficult aspects of designing, he concurs saying, “The most difficult aspect of jewellery creation process for me I think is combining an original design inspiration with what the market requires. Sometimes a great design is simply not able to transfer into the commercial market successfully – other times some of the most successful products in the market may not be the most exciting designs. That combination and fine balance between design and commerciality is for me the most important challenge.”

We wondered if Fei uses any Chinese techniques in his jewellery that make it so unique in the British market and so popular in the Chinese. To this he replies, “Not really in terms of my stock jewellery collections. Most of the Chinese influence of my jewellery is in the design of the pieces – the attention to artistic details and the luxury feel. A lot of the materials that I use in some of my bespoke commissions are Chinese, such as Jadeite, which is also a very highly prized material to the Chinese audience. There are certain techniques, which we need to apply to Jadeite in order to cut and carve it, as it is a very hard material. However, as far as the majority is concerned, we are just like any other jewellery company using modern jewellery technology and crafting techniques. Some of my one-off creations incorporate Chinese antiques such as ceramic or the kingfisher feather hairpins I used in the Kingfisher Earrings. My main focus with those pieces is not so much the physical material as the antique nature of it. I wanted to use modern technology to enhance the beauty of the past – to give a new meaning to the history. These techniques and materials, which were, once limited to the culture of one country are presented in a new, global context.”

When requested to describe the kind of woman who adorns his jewellery, pat comes the reply, “I imagine the kind of woman who wears my jewellery to be a lot like stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow or maybe Keira Knightley: sophisticated women with a good understanding and sense of fashion who, at the same time, are not too extravagant or too over the top. They still retain a classic style and femininity. The kind of woman who wears my jewellery uses fashion, colour and design as a bridge and means of communication between themselves and society.”

Fei is a fashion conscious man too and knows his suits well. When quizzed about his personal fashion and jewellery preferences, he says, “I personally prefer to wear cufflinks and brooches, which can be worn well with a suit. A variety of suits are probably my personal style – I have twelve of them!”

It is amazing how Fei manages to look dapper in every trade fair and press event while managing his extremely busy schedules and his constant business trips around the globe. While describing his typical working day, he states, “I wake up at 6AM every day, then I have one hour of meditation as I am a practicing Buddhist. I start my day in the early morning, as I love mornings. I try to be in the office by 9AM, and I will stay sometimes until 7 or 8 o clock at night. As I am running my brand in both China and the UK, I spend a lot of time in meetings when I am not at trade fairs or press events. I don’t usually have time for the gym or to do exercise, which is really bad! I use my weekend to catch up on that as during the week I don’t do very much outside of work at the moment.”

We wondered if he has time to pursue his hobbies and if he has any beyond creating masterpieces and spending time with sumptuous jewels. He answers, “I love travelling, which is good because I travel very often between the UK and China and the rest of the world as part of my work. When I get the chance I love travelling for pleasure too. I also love music. I have lots of hobbies like cycling, mountain climbing, etc but I really need to find the time to do that more often. At the moment my life is really very busy!”

After unearthing the adventurous and sporty side of Fei, the topic shifted back to jewellery and his favourite designers and idols. While talking about his idol, he shares, “I think my real idol in terms of jewellery design is Stefan Hafner – one of the greatest Italian designers. He has devoted himself and his life to the career he believes in. Amongst my favourite designers, I have to say there are lots of designers whose works I like and admire. As far as individual designers go, my favourite would be Joel Arthur Rosenthal (JAR). I think he is a true artist. He uses his life to express how he understands jewellery and what jewellery is supposed to be. In terms of brands, I love Chanel and Christian Dior because they both have kept this typical, classic French look. At the same time, they have tried to maintain their status as niche, speciality jewellery brands by bringing very new ideas into their collections. There are also some designers specifically from Brazil who I particularly admire and like. There are many, many of them who have presented designs, which use the country’s resources very wisely. They have developed a great deal with their technology in a very short time. I think they have shown the world that their jewellery is just as fabulous as the style of their famous Rio Carnival, if not more so.”

It is time to wrap up our conversation and as Fei starts getting busier and busier, we requested him to advice our young readers and aspiring designers. “I think ‘designer’ is a very difficult hat to wear. If you choose to be a designer I think you need to get yourself physically and mentally ready, because it is extremely competitive and this is one of those industries where you have to constantly push yourself to the limit and reinvent yourself. It is a tough occupation, but it is full of fun and satisfaction, particularly if you have a good team to work with,” he signs off.