Meet Oude Waag, Where Avant-garde Meets Eastern Sensibility
LONDON — There were a few key moments in Chinese designer Jingwei Yin’s life that altered his career path.
During his placement year studying for a bachelor’s degree in fashion design at Central Saint Martins, Yin went to Antwerp and worked under Haider Ackermann.
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There, Oude Waag, the name of an unassuming, small street in the old town, struck a chord. Many years later, Yin would launch his own label with that very name.
Having left China at the age of 17 to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion design star, he was supposed to have an interview with the influential, late fashion professor Louise Wilson for a place in the prestigious MA fashion course at CSM. Wilson died a day before their scheduled meeting in 2014.
Feeling lost, he went to Paris, hoping to land a job in places like Alaïa or Jean Paul Gaultier. Without knowing a soul in the industry at the time, he packed his bags a year later and returned to London to study under Zowie Broach at the Royal College of Art.
At school, he was deeply touched by the words of visiting lecturer Heikki Salonen, creative director of Maison Margiela’s MM6 line, that designing clothes with commercial viability is more challenging and rewarding than putting together a high-concept collection.
“That’s why I immediately returned to China after graduation and started working on my brand. I knew Oude Waag would be very different from what I did in school, but they share the same roots,” said Yin.
The designer described his graduate collection as a distillation of everything he had learned at that point: design, art, desire and spiritual pursuit.
An artisanal take on life’s passage from birth to death, it was a color and texture explosion on monk-like silhouettes set in a dystopian future. Models donned skin-tight bodysuits splashed with paint with velvets in red, orange and yellow wrapped around the body. Some pieces were padded to create an alien-like dropped and mutated proposition.
His first collection under the name Oude Waag, debuted in Shanghai in March 2018, stripped all that away. He kept the ceremonial silhouettes and opted for simpler earthy tones, a compromise due to limited resources at the time. It attracted one stockist, the Chinese emerging talent-focused retailer Labelhood.
A bumpy start didn’t deter Yin. He has had worse experiences in Paris.
The designer continued to build around the Oude Waag universe, expanding his interpretation of Eastern sensuality, and adjusting the product mix per consumer feedback. He added more tailoring options, created a knit range, and collaborated on a jewelry capsule with his wife’s brand Olio e Aceto.
Deep down, the designer confessed that Oude Waag reflects his desire and appreciation for complex female characters who don’t confine themselves to traditional gender norms. He said the brand is about the juxtaposition of contrasts, and the harmony born out of paradox.
Oude Waag now sells to over 40 top-tier fashion boutiques around the world, including Selfridges in London. The majority of the business is still in China, and the performance of its new e-commerce store on Tmall has been encouraging.
The brand has been able to sell high-price point showpieces, over $1,000, in big quantities thanks to its distinctive aesthetic, which has attracted a dedicated following with fashion influencers, well-to-do career women and yummy mummies in the mix.
Yin said he wasn’t aware of the brand’s natural Eastern philosophical quality until he started doing showrooms in Paris.
“In China, people think we are a bit edgy, avant-grade, and sexy, but buyers in the West can tell we perceive sensuality rather differently. Compared to those who are more direct with showing the body, like Versace and Mugler, Oude Waag hides the obvious parts. Instead, my design accentuates the collarbone, the back of the neck, and the waistline. Of course, it’s a response to China’s local market expectations, but these differences help the brand resonate with our audience,” he said.
That said, Yin likes to consider himself a worldly designer, taking in and fusing different references through an oriental point of view.
“I want the brand to be a cultural contributor. I was greatly influenced by the Antwerp fashion scene, but at the same time, the pattern cutter I worked with at Haider Ackermann was from Japan. I learned a lot about draping and flat-cutting from him,” he said.
“To me, I don’t do thematic collections. I like to be spontaneous. Every collection I design is a retrospective of the things I see and feel during the past six months. Like when I go to a library, I don’t search for a specific book. I look at the ones with a cover that speaks to me. I also look at ancient Greek statues and get inspired by my inner dialogue with the god,” he added.
For fall 2025, Yin fixated on the concept of symbiosis between thorns and soft cotton. The new collection will be presented on Thursday within a massive installation. The designer teased that there will be sultry, body-hugging looks with prickly prints and comfy, padded pieces.
Yin said he wants to express his care for his partner, who has been battling depression due to the passing of a close family member last year.
“My wife is my best friend in the world. She hasn’t been in the best of shape. Through this collection, I want to show her that the best way to come out of trauma is to embrace it,” he added.
Looking ahead, the designer is hopeful, not only that his partner will come out stronger, but also that the brand will continue to grow despite a challenging trading environment.
Next month, his wife will open a physical retail space for Olio e Aceto next to Wukang Mansion, a historical residential block in the heart of Shanghai that has become a tourist landmark in recent years.
Yin hopes that the store will help him gain retail experience and pave the way to open an Oude Waag space in the near future.
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