Profile: Yukito Lim – Only Natural Design Competitions

Yukito Lim

University of the Arts London

YUKITO LIM is a fashion and textile designer based in London, whose practice explores the intersection of craftsmanship, sustainability, and contemporary storytelling. A graduate of London College of Fashion with a Master’s degree in Fashion Textiles Technology, Yukito combines traditional textile techniques with innovative approaches, including digital knitting, embroidery, print, laser cutting, and mixed-media surface development. Originally from China and now working between fashion design and luxury retail in London, Yukito draws inspiration from cultural memory, material reuse, and the evolving relationship between garments and identity. Sustainability sits at the core of the brand’s philosophy, with a strong focus on deadstock materials, vintage reconstruction, and extending the lifecycle of existing textiles through thoughtful design interventions. Before relocating to the UK, Yukito operated an independent vintage and remake business for five years, developing a deep understanding of garment construction, sourcing, and circular fashion practices. Alongside developing the eponymous label, Yukito has collaborated with industry professionals, embroidery studios, photographers, and community-based fashion initiatives, including projects connected to South African cultural celebrations and emerging designer showcases. Through a balance of technical experimentation and narrative-driven design, Yukito aims to create work that is both visually distinctive and socially conscious, celebrating the value of craftsmanship while reimagining the future of fashion.

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Category: Apparel

Competitions: Fashion Competition 2026

This project reimagines discarded tailoring through transformation, precision, and tactile reconstruction. The garment is constructed from deconstructed vintage trousers, reworked into a sculptural top that explores the boundary between utility and ornament. Using laser-cutting techniques, the original textile structure is fragmented into controlled patterns that reveal a new visual rhythm within the fabric. The precision of digital cutting contrasts with the irregularity of aged materials, highlighting the dialogue between industrial process and worn history. Each cut element is intentionally positioned to retain traces of the trousers’ original form, allowing memory to remain embedded within the reconstruction. Alongside this, handcraft plays a central role in the assembly process. Selected sections are connected through piercing techniques, where metal rings and hand-finished openings bind the fragments together. This creates an exposed, almost anatomical construction language, where joins are not hidden but emphasised as part of the design narrative. The tension between fragility and structure becomes a defining characteristic of the piece. The final silhouette challenges conventional garment hierarchy, turning a functional lower-body garment into an upper-body statement piece. It reflects a sustainable approach to design that values adaptation over erasure, and celebrates imperfection, decay, and renewal as aesthetic and conceptual drivers within contemporary fashion practice.