"I thought it was a scam," designer Kuai Li recalls of the DM she received from Kylie Jenner's stylist, Mackenzie Grandquist, in 2023. In her defense, most people in her position probably would, too.
At the time, Li was a first-year graduate student pursuing an MFA in fashion design, with little experience and limited industry attention. The odds of Jenner's stylist coming across her work? It was too good to be true, she thought. But before deleting the message, Li did some research. "It turned out she was exactly who she said she was," Li says. Grandquist had seen a design of hers and "really wanted to bring some new things to Kylie Jenner."
Photo: Courtesy of Quine Li
It only takes a quick glance at Li's work to see why Grandquist was so impressed. The Brooklyn-based designer has established a distinct design language for sculptural pieces featuring abstract, futuristic silhouettes. "I like to pursue the visual power you can find in silhouettes and shapes," she says.
Her unique background largely shapes that creative point of view: Before entering the fashion industry, Li worked as an industrial designer in China. After a few years at a startup, she "felt like it wasn't the best way to express my desire for design" and decided to make a change. "I was always obsessed with fashion and following what was happening in that world," she explains.
Photo: Yongqi Liu/Courtesy of Quine Li
So she packed her bags, moved to New York City and enrolled in the MFA Fashion Design program at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). "It was a really big challenge to totally transfer to a new industry and to learn skills starting from ground zero," she reflects. "But I took a chance on myself, and I just wanted to learn something new."
While she might have made a career pivot, her industrial design experience still informed her tendency to use unconventional materials and pull inspiration from architecture. While at FIT, she'd regularly shop for fabric at Home Depot, leaving her classmates confused and intrigued about what she'd accomplish with it. It didn't take long for her to establish her design ethos: "to create a very classic fashion in a futuristic way," she says.
Lizzo in Quine Li at the 2024 Breakthrough Prize ceremony. (Photo: Anna Webber/Variety via Getty Images)
Li's work with Jenner and Grandquist put her on the industry's radar and served as "a sign to officially bring my brand to a large audience," as she puts it. Today, the brand has emerged as a celebrity favorite, having been worn by Doja Cat, Coco Rocha, Lizzo, Tracee Ellis Ross, Coco Jones, Megan Thee Stallion, Ciara Miller and Tyra Banks, among others. Quine Li has also been placed in editorials, including the covers of Harper's Bazaar Serbia, Numero Netherlands, Gaffer, Vogue Mexico, Blanc and Galore.
One of Li's favorite celebrity moments was Katy Perry wearing the brand on the "143" album cover. "[Perry's stylist Tatiana Waterford] told me the team prepared 12 racks of the designs for her and she loved that one the most," Li says. "That means a lot to me when a stylist or the celebrities give me that type of feedback."
Given Li's custom-only business model, the logistics around working with stylists — pricing, timelines, shipping, etc. — took some time to perfect. Sometimes, she has up to a week to fulfill a commission. In emergent situations, she's had 48 hours to create a piece. Pricing-wise, she'll ask stylists what their budget is and factor in materials costs, shipping fees and production time.
Work from Quine Li's "Embrace Softness" collection.
Photo: Thandi Roe/Courtesy of Quine Li
"It's very challenging," she says. "But it's also a really valuable experience for me to take care of each case and to meet the needs of different types of clients. And when they wear the designs at an event or a concert, I feel like, 'Wow, I'm so glad I could be part of this.'"
Ready-to-wear is in the cards as well: "I want my ready-to-wear collection to be more wearable for sure, and I want my first collection to focus on softness," she says. "I ask all the models and clients who come in for fittings how they feel when they put on my designs and they tell me…it's a comforting experience for them. I feel so satisfied when they tell me that because it's not only about what the garments look like, but how they make you feel."
Li doesn't want to rush into ready-to-wear and says it will be at least two years before that launch. For now? "I want to focus on custom work and put my energy more into the creative parts of the business."
Li teases that she's currently working on a storytelling-heavy collection. As for the long-term vision? Putting Quine Li on the fashion map.
"I really want Quine Li to be the brand people know everywhere," Li says. "I want it to be something people remember in fashion history."
* This article was originally published here