Anna Deller-Yee’s passion for creating began during her early childhood. Born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in Coburg, Germany, she grew up in a multicultural American-Japanese, Chinese and German household. At the age of eight, she was already aware that she wanted to pursue a career in creative industries. In an attempt to “learn everything [she] could about drawing and illustration”, she began taking fine art classes as a pre-teen, which she continued until the end of high school.
For university, she moved to London to study at the London College of Fashion before completing a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art. “LCF taught me the more business-related and commercial aspects of fashion, but my time at RCA (including the pandemic) made me go full circle,” she explained, speaking on her time in London. “I came right back to art, to drawing and painting and started to blend both worlds. That’s when I ironically started to refer to myself as ‘the designer that paints too much’. That just stuck around and never left.”
Shortly after finishing her studies, Anna moved to Milan where she began developing her distinct multidisciplinary practices, creating fashion which doubles as “visceral, visual and tactile art”. Alongside her independent work, since moving to Italy she has joined Francesco Risso as a womenswear designer at Marni, to develop fashion, prints and embroidery for the brand. Now, for her latest creative endeavour, Anna has been enlisted by Nike to design a collection of performance wear true to her painter-first-designer-second style.
Below she spoke to us about her journey into fashion, designing the collection with Nike and creating pieces of wearable art.
Could you tell us a bit about your background, what were your earliest memories of fashion?
Anna Deller-Yee: My earliest memories are of my mother. She was always so stylish and still is today. I remember when I was a little girl she had all her fashion magazines lying around the house, which at the time were filled with John Galliano for Dior, Lee Alexander McQueen and Christian Lacroix, to name a few. This was back in 2003/2004 when I was around nine years old.
The first time I saw these otherworldly, bizarre and theatrical creations I was totally mesmerised. I remember vividly that this was the moment I knew I wanted to carve a path like this for myself – of course, this was through the eyes of a child, untainted by our world and the fashion or art industry, it was just pure dreaming. But even though I’m an adult now, I think I never lost my ability to dream; I am a big, sensitive and vivid dreamer at heart, I firmly believe in the power of dreaming to propel me forward, be it in my life or work.
Which came first your passion for painting or designing? Or did it happen simultaneously?
Anna Deller-Yee: It was indeed drawing and illustration, as after discovering fashion, I first wanted to learn how to draw the human body, then clothes and so on. Painting didn’t come onto the scene until later. So actually thinking about it now, my interest maybe was always in more than just the garments, their design and functionality, but more the experience that lies within dressing the human body. Of course, none of this crossed my nine-year-old mind, but looking back, I see some patterns. Now both worlds go hand in hand, including painting as my main outlet in art.
Why does working with Nike feel aligned with your own work and style?
Anna Deller-Yee: What I love about Nike is the fearlessness, the empowerment, the ability to think outside the box and to be bold 360-degree around – to literally ‘just do it’. I think we share this common ground in values and work ethics, therefore it made this collaboration so genuine on many different levels.
What was the main inspiration behind the collection?
Anna Deller-Yee: The intersection of my world with the one of Nike and the timing of the Olympic Games in Paris led me to bring forth one of my strongest beliefs as the foundation for this work: Yielding one’s vulnerability and fragility as a strength, as an ever-present aura that protects and radiates confidence and triggers personal growth; to me, it conveys that through softness and fluidity, we as women stand strong and confidently on our two feet.
In this particular moment, I wanted to express this idea through a classic yet fresh artwork – the fluid dynamic of flowers that snake their way up and down the body literally showing the growth and energy of the wearer.
Could you talk us through your design process?
Anna Deller-Yee: My process is always slightly different but its always cyclical and iterative, involving destruction and reconstruction, embracing and celebrating imperfections and flaws: I create, rebuild, reshuffle, rework, pull apart and put things back together. And eventually coming to a halt, I see what traces are most prominent within this body of work.
Your work blurs the lines between art and fashion, when painting on these pieces how did the movement aspect of performance wear impact your design choices?
Anna Deller-Yee: I created a flat print for the collaboration, so it was not painted on a garment. Yet when creating this artwork, I kept in mind the idea of the flow of image and colour on the body, the strong and fragile elements of my research and how I can compact these elements into a design without compromise which can be applied to a multitude of garments, spanning leisure and sportswear.
I think it’s really smart how the bomber almost feels like it could be a one of one, which has been custom hand-painted. I know in some of your work with Marni, a lot of those pieces are one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces for shows. When designing this collection with the knowledge that it would be produced on a larger scale, did you find your process changed in order to keep that wearable art feel?
Anna Deller-Yee: Thank you! Marni is a really special place where the bridge between art and fashion not only exists but is celebrated in all its glory. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been taken in under the wings of Francesco and his right hand Ileana – into the world of Francesco’s Marni’s ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ – and trusted by them almost three years ago. Here I have trained and worked on experimental and artisanal one-offs and commercial pieces; so for my collaboration with Nike, I didn’t change my way of thinking or working but came naturally.
Do you have a favourite piece in the collection, or one you enjoyed working on the most? If so, why?
Anna Deller-Yee: My favourite pieces are the mesh long sleeve, the bra and matching leggings and the bomber jacket. For me, these pieces really encapsulate the strength that flows in the collection. It’s like a crescendo from quiet to loud through the combined usage of materials, volumes, print design, sizes and placements.
The pieces can be worn and styled with a pre-existing personal wardrobe. Alternatively, it can be worn as a full layered look, like a walking piece of art. I also think that due to the nature of this collection and its dynamics, it can convey strength in a multitude of situations, be it active sports or more casual everyday life. It’s really 360 degrees, which makes me think it’s for any woman out there who dares to be herself.
Head here to find out more about the collection and to watch Dazed’s mini-film campaign
