I first encountered Xiaoqiao at London Fashion Week, as she walked down the runway at Di Petsa’s Spring/Summer 2025 show. Dressed in one of the designer’s sculptural, water-inspired creations, she instantly caught everyone’s eye – not just for her striking beauty, but for the serene self-assurance she brought to the catwalk. She embodied everything the Di Petsa aesthetic celebrates: fluidity, strength and a bold, otherworldly femininity.
Curious to know more, I followed Xiaoqiao beyond the runway – and into her sound. As a trained harpist, her music weaves classical instrumentation with airy vocals and ambient electronic textures, creating a mood that’s both intimate and transportive. Dreamlike, yet grounded in emotion. Drawing from her modelling background and personal style, Xiaoqiao has shaped an utterly unique visual identity: part celestial muse, part modern siren. It’s an aesthetic that seamlessly mirrors the music she’s been busy perfecting: fluid and hypnotic.
Her debut EP Weltschmerz, which came out at the start of this month, is a four-track exploration of melancholy, memory and the subconscious. “My music is based on a fluid state of unconsciousness,” she tells Service95 backstage of her recent headline show at The Old Church in Stoke Newington, North London, adding: “I’m a big fan of the concept of lucid dreaming.” The tracks – Lethe, Magnolia Dream, Weltschmerz and Fleur de Sel – draw inspiration from Greek mythology, nature and emotional liminality, all anchored by Xiaoqiao’s delicate but deliberate sonic fusions.
To mark the release, The Old Church was the perfect venue to match the introspective, spiritual quality of her work. Guests filled the wooden pews as candlelight flickered through the nave. Dressed in cascading white fabric and dripping with pearls and crystals, Xiaoqiao performed from the altar beside her harp, creating an atmosphere that felt more like she was asking guests to join her “on a collaborative ritual”, rather than sit and observe a concert in the usual sense. “I want people to feel like they are sharing a dream,” She speaks as she slowly prepares for the performance, sweeping silver-toned, iridescent eyeshadow across her lids and pairing it with a deep, vampy brown lip, a fitting match for the gothic dagger her stylist Grete Henriette had fastened along her lower back as part of her costume. “Like we are sharing a sacred sanctuary and you’re able to get lost.”
Originally from Beijing, she grew up in a traditional household, wedded to structure and expectation. But as she got older, she discovered the city’s underground music scene and began to explore a creative identity outside of convention. Eventually, that urge to explore took her to London, where she studied film, a decision that continues to shape her work today. Her background in cinema is deeply woven into how she thinks about music, not just as sound, but as mood, narrative and atmosphere. Her videos and visuals are a rich example of this, drawing just as much from the language of experimental film as from her music itself.
That influence becomes even clearer when she speaks about the artists who inspire her. She cites names like American filmmaker Maya Deren, a pioneer known for her surreal, dreamlike short films of the 1940s and 1950s. After watching her film Meshes of the Afternoon, she recalls how her body was “physically shaking when I saw it”. You can see echoes of that sensibility in Xiaoqiao’s own work: her visuals are built around the tone and feeling her sound evokes, rather than a set plot. All of which adds to this world she’s building – one where sound, image and emotion blur together to form something entirely her own.
Now, as her creative universe expands, it’s clear Xiaoqiao is carving out a space entirely her own – one that exists between disciplines, languages and emotional registers. Whether onstage or in the studio, she doesn’t just perform; she transports. Her work doesn’t demand your attention, it quietly pulls you in, and makes you want to linger in the dream a little longer.
