If you were to unfold the thirty-year timeline of a brand and examine it in full, the beauty etched by years of accumulated experience would be nothing short of remarkable. Liyu Tsai, Creative Director of the Taiwanese fashion brand bearing her name and founder of the KERAIA Group (established in 1996), has spent decades as a steadfast navigator of style — guiding the brand through shifting eras with clear judgment and hard-won experience, maintaining a consistent identity amid the tides of change.
This year (2026) marks not only the brand's important 30th anniversary milestone, but also a moment to look back on its design journey. Stepping into KERAIA's headquarters on Changan East Road in Taipei, the space exudes an unhurried elegance — as if the thirty years of Tsai and the brand's essence have been distilled into every corner.
The KERAIA headquarters on Changan East Road exudes an air of refined elegance, offering a glimpse into the distinctive women's fashion aesthetics of each of the group's brand lines.
All-Encompassing Design, with an Unwavering Devotion to Women
The garments displayed on the racks — each distinct in style — are the product of Tsai's years of careful observation and thoughtful refinement of women's lives; or more precisely, a heartfelt consideration of women's needs across every dimension of daily living. Looking back on the dream that drove her to start a business thirty years ago, Tsai speaks of it with quiet composure today. But in those early days, when Taiwan's fashion scene was just finding its footing, surviving as a designer brand could only be described as forging through the wilderness. Through countless unknowns and trials, however, one core belief never wavered: it was not enough simply to design fashionable clothes — clothing had to truly enter women's lives.
"From the very beginning, I kept asking myself: what does a woman need to wear throughout her day, across different times and occasions? She needs to go to work, to travel, to attend important events — and sometimes, she needs an outfit that lets her be the center of the room." — Designer Liyu Tsai
In Tsai's eyes, women should never be defined by a single image. They can be romantic and soft, or sharp and individual. Rather than focusing on one aesthetic, she prefers to use construction and styling variations that allow the same garment to convey entirely different energies depending on how it is worn. "Keeping a global perspective while maintaining locally attuned, considerate design" is a principle she has long practised. She smiles describing herself and the brand as "helpers to the consumer" — not only bringing an international fashion sensibility to her loyal customers, but caring deeply about whether a garment can truly integrate into their lives. "When she is seen and affirmed in the right outfit at the right occasion, she builds a relationship with our clothes. That bond, deepening with time, is the very key to a brand's longevity," Tsai says with conviction.
Liyu Tsai leads the brand in bringing an international fashion perspective to its devoted customers, while remaining committed to all-encompassing design that genuinely integrates into women's everyday lives.
When Time Flows, Style Takes Shape: "FORME & TEMPS" Composes a Narrative of Lasting Resonance
Since the group's founding, KERAIA has grown to encompass three lines — the designer line Liyu Tsai, the workwear-oriented KERAIA, and the casual label keraia. Of these, the eponymous Liyu Tsai is not only the stylistic origin of the entire brand family, but the purest expression of Tsai's design language.
For the Autumn/Winter 2026 season, Liyu Tsai has transformed "time" into the collection's central theme: "FORME & TEMPS" (Form & Time). The concept functions both as a prelude to the brand's 30th anniversary and as an invitation — drawing the viewer into how the brand looks back on time, makes sense of it, and ultimately translates it into clothing. "Form is never born in an instant; it is confirmed, again and again, through time."
The AW26 collection comprises sixty looks, rich in layered visual complexity across both design vocabulary and colour palette. Yet examining its details reveals a clear emotional arc running throughout. Tsai explains that alongside the commemorative retrospection, the collection responds to the atmosphere of the present moment — consciously weaving themes of peace, hope, eternity, and the unfolding of life into the designs from the very earliest stages of development. This lends the collection an emotional depth beyond the visual — a meditation on time and existence.
"For me, this has been a process of continuous accumulation. As time flows, style becomes visible and takes form — that is what 'FORME & TEMPS' means. Thirty years have passed in exactly this way." — Designer Liyu Tsai
The Liyu Tsai AW 2026 'FORME & TEMPS' collection features an expansive lineup of 60 looks, with the carefully choreographed order of models' appearances tracing a deliberate emotional progression — from hushed, muted tones to luminous, brightening hues.
The most distinctive creative highlight of the season is undoubtedly Cultivée — a newly developed haute couture technique that runs throughout the entire collection. Liyu Tsai insists on developing exclusive textiles each season to define its character. Cultivée takes "accumulation" as its structural core, employing forms inspired by olive branches and wheat ears, using generous volumes of fabric to create three-dimensional mass in the motion between drape and stride — making time visible as form.
"For me, Cultivée gives an abstract concept a real physical presence. Leaves are inherently vital shapes in the natural world, and through this technique, fabric does not simply lie flat against the garment — it seems to grow out from it." The process of accumulation becoming structure — moving from flat to sculptural, from part to whole — is a perfect embodiment of the "FORME & TEMPS" theme.
The season's collection unfolds through the newly developed haute couture technique Cultivée, with a wealth of symbolic elements woven throughout the garments and accessories — olive branches evoking wisdom and inner strength, wheat ears representing humility within abundance. The collection draws on a rich textural vocabulary, incorporating fabrics such as a luxurious French golden feather lamé and a deep forest-green black mirror cloth, while even hardware details such as buttons are elegantly crafted to echo the collection's signature motifs.
With the perception of time as the warp and the structural design of garments as the weft, Tsai identifies another essential key to this season's concept: "the sense of fluidity in motion." This is precisely why, for the AW26 show at Taipei Fashion Week, she chose without hesitation to present on a full runway.
Liyu Tsai, she explains, has never sought to speak through individual pieces alone, but through a total experience in which subject matter, fabric, narrative, light, and the audience's emotional response are woven seamlessly together. Flowing dresses, trouser hems that reveal their curvature only in stride, fabrics that shift their sheen with the angle of light — "these details are nearly invisible without movement. When the fabric flows, time flows — and the brand moves forward in precisely this ever-advancing rhythm."
"Only when the garments begin to move can 'Form' be called forth from stillness." — Designer Liyu Tsai
Liyu Tsai took to the runway at this season's Taipei Fashion Week AW26, presenting the fluid beauty of time in motion that echoes the collection's theme — uniting subject matter, fabric, narrative, light, and the audience's emotional experience into a single, seamless whole. (Photo credits / Top row large image and bottom row image 1 courtesy of Liyu Tsai; bottom row images 2–4 photography by Mai Xian-Yun.)
Colour, too, follows an emotional progression traceable through the sequence of the models' appearances, unfolding across three broad phases: the opening looks carry the quiet restraint of grey and earth tones, echoing unease in uncertain times; the middle section introduces green, like life pushing tender shoots through chaos; the final stretch arrives in white and brightening hues, bringing peace and hope to the foreground. Even visually bold elements — leopard print, fringe, metallic threads — are never isolated, but placed within the narrative arc as nodes in the journey from darkness toward light.
The runway's straight lines and deliberate empty space were not mere minimalism, but a conscious choice to return the gaze to the garments and the story. From the carefully crafted opening film and the choreographed sequence of looks to a pianist's live performance in the second half, culminating in imagery of a white dove finding its olive branch amid turbulence — the atmosphere of the show was built layer by layer, leading the audience through a quiet shift from shadow to light.
"I hope the audience leaves not only having witnessed a beautiful show, but feeling a sense of healing — not a weightless kind, but one that acknowledges the chaos and still chooses to hold onto hope. That is the feeling I most wanted to leave with everyone." — Designer Liyu Tsai
The sound design for the Liyu Tsai AW 2026 show employed low frequencies and a slow, measured rhythm to echo the cadence of footsteps and the whisper of fabric in motion. Complemented by a short film and a live pianist performance, the overall presentation chose not to conclude with a dramatic crescendo, but instead drew to a close in a steady, complete rhythm — rendering the state of form fulfilled through time. (Photo courtesy of Liyu Tsai.)
Photo courtesy of Liyu Tsai.
The Bonds That Enrich Each Other's Lives — A Brand's Most Precious Asset
As one of Taiwan's fashion industry's most enduring brands, Tsai reflects on her years of participation in Taipei Fashion Week with appreciation. She observes a growing recognition from the wider world of the stories and craft values behind designer brands, and sees the event's greatest significance in bringing together designers and industry professionals — otherwise scattered and caught up in their own work — into a shared platform for gathering, exchange, and mutual visibility. She welcomes its continued evolution and growth.
A series of 30th anniversary plans await Tsai in the months ahead. Reflecting on the road traveled, she says with deep feeling: "The most precious asset a brand can have is the quiet, enduring support and appreciation of its customers. Some have been buying from us since their girlhood and now bring the next generation along to our shows. Others encountered the brand at a turning point in their lives and have been with us ever since." She recalls a vocal artist who had always favoured foreign labels, and happened to spot Liyu Tsai at a department store — astonished that Taiwan had a designer of this calibre. "Years later, that same customer wore that very dress to one of our brand events. It meant the world." This, Tsai reflects, is sustainability in its truest sense — letting clothes enter the lives of those who wear them, and continuing to create garments worthy of being kept by time.
"Sustainability is not only about the materials we choose — it is a commitment to design quality. Making a garment with greater refinement, so that a customer can wear and treasure it for years: that, too, is sustainability." — Designer Liyu Tsai
Having built a loyal following over its 30-year history through distinctive design, KERAIA has in recent years also established a dedicated uniform division in response to growing demand. The brand is supported by a seasoned team of professional pattern makers and tailors who have worked alongside the label for many years, with each department operating in well-coordinated roles. Liyu Tsai holds deep gratitude for this, believing that such a structure greatly benefits industry connectivity, talent development, and the long-term sustainability of the brand.
Before the interview concluded, Tsai was asked about the key to leading a brand across so many years. With unmistakable gratitude, she replied: "The team matters enormously — everyone in their own role. I only have two hands, so I am truly thankful to all of them. What I can do is lead the way forward." Thirty years on, she has no intention of stopping — only of letting time continue to flow, and style continue to be seen.
▐ Interview & Text / Ian Liu
▐ Editing & Coordination / Irene Lin
▐ Portrait Photography / Seeyu Chen
About the Brand
Liyu Tsai is a Taiwanese high-end women's fashion designer brand, crafting refined and sophisticated styles for the modern woman. Named after its Creative Director Liyu Tsai, the brand pursues not only elevated fashion but also a distinctive combination of individuality and taste — enabling every woman who wears Liyu Tsai to embody confidence, elegance, and her own unique allure. The brand places great emphasis on sourcing top-tier international fabrics and upholding meticulous craftsmanship.
About the Designer
Liyu Tsai
Liyu Tsai brings a rare blend of sensibility, intellect, and taste to her work. Committed to refined craftsmanship and an exacting attention to material detail, she draws inspiration from the multifaceted experiences of everyday life — weaving extraordinary fashion landscapes stitch by stitch, and building a brand that truly represents the dressed identity of Taiwanese women. In recent years, she has actively engaged in domestic and international fashion and cultural events, expanded into global markets, and generously supported emerging talent through sponsorship of educational and public welfare initiatives, giving back to society and local culture.
▐ Brand Website: https://www.keraia.com.tw/
▐ Contact: stevenmu.keraia@gmail.com