It was a performance with a capital P. And to say it played to the room is an understatement; at times, it was difficult to tell the models from the guests.

The Chinese designer’s world is about fetish, fantasy and experimentation. The show’s final look was a hot pink padded costume – the ultimate space armour, and worn by our master of ceremonies for the night.

The models wore crystal-embellished headphones (a snazzy collaboration with Beats By Dre, no less). The crossover with the Apple-owned company shows there is more to the avant-garde Lii than meets the eye.

Lii, who founded Windowsen in 2019, is proud to be the first Chinese designer to work with Beats By Dre, and says it is something “he never imagined happening”.

“I think creativity is our common language,” he says. Being Chinese is just a part of it – his work does not typically draw on his heritage.

“For me, these chunky glitter over-ear Beats encapsulate the joy of consuming music in public spaces and creating your own world,” she tells the Post.

“I hope I will soon spot them in the subway here,” she adds.

Like a growing number of his contemporaries, Lii splits his time between Paris and Shanghai, having moved to the European fashion capital in January 2024 to supercharge his two fashion lines: ready-to-wear and couture.

“I only just found my apartment. I checked more than 12 different places. Everything goes so slowly here compared to China,” he laughs.

Lii’s average day is, by his own admission, messy. His first task when he wakes up is “replying to all the phone messages”, then it starts properly as he researches and gets stuck into future collections.

This season he is incredibly busy meeting buyers and press. And there is plenty headed his way as his star rises.

The label’s looks have caught the eye of celebrities including Rihanna, Doja Cat and Madonna.

Spiegel admires Lii’s free thinking and his associative creative mind. “Sensen and his Chinese contemporaries have this fearless embrace of references. It makes me feel like I’m floating in this endless camera scroll of a phone or a [Instagram-like] Xiaohongshu page,” she says.

According to Bohan Qiu, founder of the creative, PR and brand consultancy Boh Project, Windowsen’s representation of Chinese fashion stems from his ability to merge elements from the many subcultures that a contemporary Chinese person experiences.

“From drag culture, queer culture and anime to cyberpunk underground music, post-internet, pop culture, Sensen can always bring together its true community from around the world, not just limited to China. And I think that’s [why] his brand is really appealing to a global audience,” Qiu says.

“I won’t call [my vision] uncompromising,” says Lii. “But I have a big concept with me. It’s more like I am developing this Windowsen universe. [This showcase] is more like a ‘Shakespeare x Kill Bill’ narrative to me, which is very unique and I took elements which I think should be in this universe.”

For those brave enough to take the plunge, it is a gripping one and open to everyone: diversity is a big brand pillar for Lii.

Windowsen does open casting calls for models on social media, which is pretty much unheard of for the average fashion week show.

“We get thousands of bios when we do that and we are so grateful. We welcome anyone who is synced with our style,” he says.

Looking ahead, Lii says: “I think now that I’m here I need a reboot, like a robot. The past three years, Shanghai inspired me a lot but now I’m here, I need to start percolating with these new ideas I’m having.”

First up is getting his self-proclaimed “messy” flat up to date. He is in the process of shipping his collections over to Paris.

“Do you think there is anything not challenging in this city?” he asks, tongue in cheek. It is surely nothing the gutsy designer cannot handle.