By Walid is the creative, upcycle brand of Walid al Damirji… an intellect and free-thinker with the best attitude of anyone on the planet. These jackets were born of a delightful June visit to his studio in London where Walid, John (Walid’s right-hand man) and I unravelled old textiles onto a large center table and set out to create a mini collection for Santa Fe Dry Goods. The jackets are made from antique fabrics, many from old piano shawls. The motifs resonate with the work from the same period of painter Ju Lian, featured below. – Shobhan

About the Art of Ju Lian

A native of Panyu, Ju Lian was a bird-and-flower painter who emphasized the importance of the observation and sketching of objects in nature. He learnt painting from Song Guangbao (active in early 19th Century) and Meng Jinyi and developed his own style. His palette was vivid, rich and bright. This particular piece entitled “A Hundred Flowers” is considered a masterpiece among his work and is revered for the zhuangfen and zhuangshui, or “water and pigment infusion” method that he used. Ju Lian painted without outlines and deposited water and pigment onto the wet paint surface. The water then dried to form a clearly defined boundary similar to an outline. This painting is one of the best examples of this technique and resonated with the embroideries of these By Walid jackets. They are opulent and colorful art pieces that stand the test of time in fashion and yet seem modern in many ways. So too does Ju Lian’s incredible painting.