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horizon series | Liang Dong
“What I create is inevitably linked to my personality, culture, and background. As humans, it's very hard to avoid the connection with the environment and soil we grew up in. So I think this might be the meaning of travel for me. It mostly allows you to look back at your native land and see your original self more clearly. I think this is truly the meaning of travel for me.”
“The fortunate thing about my work is that it allows me to control my own time and space. So I can go to various places. For example, we've had shoots in Tokyo and showrooms in Paris. We have many opportunities to work in different places. And we also travel in our free time. But I think like all creators, it's very hard to completely separate travel from work. Whenever we visit a city, we often take on the role of an observer or researcher.”
“After stepping out and seeing many different things, I realized that my native culture has very strong characteristics and background. What I create is inevitably linked to my personality, culture, and background. As humans, it's very hard to avoid the connection with the environment and soil we grew up in. So I think this might be the meaning of travel for me. It mostly allows you to look back at your native land and see your original self more clearly. I think this is truly the meaning of travel for me.”
“What I want to achieve is to not be too influenced. It's like when we work in fashion, we are often easily swayed by current information. You wonder if you should make a style or product more connected to the present. But what I want to do now is be more myself. I want and should be more myself. Maybe what you want to make is something from 10 years ago that you identified with.”
For the next chapter of côte&ciel’s Horizon Series, we turn our attention to Liang Dong, founder and designer of the Chinese label ATTEMPT. Existing between Wuhan and London, Liang’s practice reflects a constant movement between environments, rhythms, and ways of seeing. Much like côte&ciel, his work is shaped by the tension between structure and instinct, balancing technical precision with a deeply personal understanding of how objects live alongside the body.
Founded over a decade ago, ATTEMPT has developed a distinct visual language rooted in material exploration and construction. While the brand is often associated with darker tones and contemporary silhouettes, its foundation lies less in aesthetics alone and more in process itself. Garments emerge through an ongoing investigation into fabrication, texture, proportion, and the emotional relationship between clothing and the individual wearing it.
Founded over a decade ago, ATTEMPT has developed a distinct visual language rooted in material exploration and construction. While the brand is often associated with darker tones and contemporary silhouettes, its foundation lies less in aesthetics alone and more in process itself. Garments emerge through an ongoing investigation into fabrication, texture, proportion, and the emotional relationship between clothing and the individual wearing it.
Liang’s perspective has been shaped by movement. Splitting his time between Wuhan, London, Shanghai, Paris, and Tokyo, travel has become inseparable from the way he observes the world. Yet unlike the romanticised idea of travel as escape, for Liang it functions more as a mirror, a way of understanding his own identity through distance.
This sensitivity to environment resonates closely with côte&ciel’s own philosophy. Both approach design through observation rather than declaration. Objects are not treated as static products, but as evolving forms shaped by movement, interaction, and context. Where côte&ciel explores how bags shift and respond to gravity, balance, and the body, ATTEMPT investigates how garments can carry emotional weight while remaining grounded in function and material integrity.
This sensitivity to environment resonates closely with côte&ciel’s own philosophy. Both approach design through observation rather than declaration. Objects are not treated as static products, but as evolving forms shaped by movement, interaction, and context. Where côte&ciel explores how bags shift and respond to gravity, balance, and the body, ATTEMPT investigates how garments can carry emotional weight while remaining grounded in function and material integrity.
For Liang, travel ultimately became a way of understanding his own origins more clearly. What once felt singular or difficult to define gradually revealed itself as something unavoidable. A natural imprint left by the environment that shaped him.
At the centre of Liang’s thinking is rhythm - not speed, but balance. Over time, his understanding of creativity has shifted away from constant acceleration towards something more deliberate and human. The pursuit is no longer purely efficiency or output, but clarity. This slower, more conscious approach extends beyond design into the way Liang structures his life and collaborations. The process itself has become equally important as the result.
There is a quiet honesty within ATTEMPT’s work that feels deeply aligned with côte&ciel’s Horizon Series. Both exist within disciplines traditionally associated with utility, yet approach them with an emotional sensitivity that goes beyond function alone. Materials are chosen not simply for performance, but for how they age, react, fold, soften, and live over time.
For Liang Dong, looking towards the horizon is ultimately about remaining connected to himself amidst the noise of contemporary culture.
There is a quiet honesty within ATTEMPT’s work that feels deeply aligned with côte&ciel’s Horizon Series. Both exist within disciplines traditionally associated with utility, yet approach them with an emotional sensitivity that goes beyond function alone. Materials are chosen not simply for performance, but for how they age, react, fold, soften, and live over time.
For Liang Dong, looking towards the horizon is ultimately about remaining connected to himself amidst the noise of contemporary culture.
In an industry increasingly shaped by speed and constant visibility, Liang Dong’s work offers something quieter. A search for clarity, rhythm, and authenticity through process, material, and movement.
Liang Dong wears the côte&ciel ORNE Smooth Black and the PO L in Smooth Black
Liang Dong wears the côte&ciel ORNE Smooth Black and the PO L in Smooth Black