No Such Zone with Xander Zhou
interview with Xander Zhou
by Hannah Rose Prendergast
Ancient comes from the past or is packaged as the future.
Xander Zhou works here.
Not to resolve anything, but to establish a point of reference.
2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection
/ (c) Xander Zhou
Pressure from reality, time, and my own doubt.
If a system stops responding to these pressures, it has already failed.
The body is an ongoing state of operation, not a destination.
It doesn’t belong to a fixed place or identity; it belongs to relationships as they unfold.
Thought forms through the body, and the body is continuously reshaped by thought.
Failure is not confrontation; it is knowing when to stop.
Ending what no longer holds is the most basic form of respect for both the system
and its development.
Some parts will always remain unlit.
Those unlit areas form the shadow.
They are not mistakes, nor something that needs to be eliminated; they are an inevitable
result of a system operating in reality.
I prefer to observe how the shadow shifts, and through that, reassess whether the structure
itself still holds.
2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection
/ (c) Xander Zhou
2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection
/ (c) Xander Zhou
Those who are willing to enter gradually take on its shape.
They are not being represented, but participating.
The work is not shaped by me alone; it forms through wearing, use, lived experience, and
new interpretations sparked by the images or concepts we put into the world.
Repetition often works like a cycle.
Sometimes it signals that a question has not yet completed its path; at other times it acts
as logic, emphasis, memory, or connection.
When conditions align again, certain structures naturally return into view.
These moments allow memories and images to be retested within new realities.
The materials that make me think differently create resistance.
It forces me to question whether I have become too comfortable with familiar design habits.
In this tension, a sense of freshness toward the unknown often leads to unexpected outcomes.
2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection
/ (c) Xander Zhou
Without limitation, would gesture still carry meaning?
Gesture emerges through control, not as oppression but as a form of structural organization.
When the body is placed within limited space, when paths of movement are constrained,
gesture becomes necessary.
In a state of complete freedom, the body no longer needs to produce clear gestures.
Sometimes I ask myself: if one day consciousness could be uploaded, would we truly achieve
freedom?
The body is an ongoing state of operation, not a destination.
It doesn’t belong to a fixed place or a specific identity; it belongs to relationships as they are unfolding.
Thought forms through the body, and the body is continuously reshaped by thought.
Failure is not confrontation; it is knowing when to stop.
I let things fail when maintaining them goes against how they operate.
Ending what no longer holds is the most basic form of respect for both the system and its development.
It exists between order and reality.
In SSAW26, I focus on how formality, regulation, and identity are gradually losing their effectiveness.
We continue to act through these forms, but reality has already shifted.
The rift emerges in this misalignment: when structures keep functioning, yet can no longer truly
respond to the body, rhythm, or environment of the present.
2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection
/ (c) Xander Zhou
2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection
/ (c) Xander Zhou
Clarity does not come from the beginning.
It forms through continuous judgment, selection, reduction, and correction.
When unnecessary structures are removed, what truly works becomes visible.
Perhaps beneath every methodology, what ultimately matters is remaining honest with oneself
and the need to understand reality clearly.
“Possible” is a form of hope.
Real possibility does not come from unlimited choice, but from conditions that are still workable,
uncertain, yet full of the unknown.
As reality continues to shift, we need to preserve a belief in possibility.
It is not grand; it happens locally, within limits, perhaps moving closer to infinity
and maximum potential precisely because it is constrained.
2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection
/ (c) Xander Zhou
credits
header image: 2026 SSAW XANDER ZHOU PRO SS26, All XANDER ZHOU PRO collection / (c) Xander Zhou