yunan ma design

Black Sheep

https://www.instagram.com/yunanmadesign/

Location

san francisco / united states

University

academy of art university san francisco

Graduation year

2018

Contact

Yunan Ma was born and raised in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. She currently resides in the Bay Area of California.

Yunan graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2013, majoring in Fashion Marketing and Management. After graduated, Yunan worked at a well-known leather handbag company, where she was educated and mentored with leather weaving techniques. Yunan was fascinated about the techniques and discovered the love for weaving and knitting. In order to develop the craftsmanship, she returned to school, Academy of Art University, and studied Knitwear Design with the famous knitwear designer Midori Sergent. In 2018, Yunan graduated with a MFA, and was the only knitwear designer attended the NYFW graduation runway. Yunan was being selected for 2018 CFDA+ Design Graduates Program. In 2018 November, along with her knitwear collection, she attended a talk about creative design process at the Apple store in Union Square, San Francisco, as a part of the series, "Today at Apple".

Yunan has always dreamed to integrate her experiences with her designs. She loves to explore her background and capture human's emotions, and she always has an unconventional interpretation and point of view on colors, mood, and art. From 2018 October, Yunan established her yarn art collection, inspiring from her personal stories and memories, combining with her mastered weaving and knitting craftsmanship, applying fine materials from top quality yarn mills, and aiming to warm up your home and inherit your happiness for a lifetime.

Latest Collection

MUCH LOVED

Ma’s collection is inspired by the photography of Mark Nixon, in particular his series of portraits that appear in the book, “Much Loved”, featuring teddy bears and stuffed animals that show all the signs of wear and tear as dearly beloved ‘stuffies’. Ma’s collection aims to capture the essence of unconditional love and nostalgia, pointing to an overall sense of harmony and serenity that these worn-out toys seem to convey. For Ma, the color choices in her collection are representative of the emotions and memories associated with the subjects in the book; bold colors, like the red and orange, represent ‘love’, whereas the midnight blue represents ‘blurred memories’. Ma sourced her yarns mainly from Italy, using mohair, cashmere, rayon and elastic for the construction of her zero-to-no-waste garments. She demonstrates versatility through the use of single and double bed knitting machines, hand knit and crochet, as well as the Dubied and Stoll machines, experimenting with techniques and stitch, including: cable, ripple, weaving, jacquard and tuck lace. Ma brings these elements together to create depth and dimension to each garment in her collection.