By ERIC WILSON


Lots of people in fashion are better at communicating their ideas with needle and thread than with nouns and verbs.

But it is Patrick Li’s peculiar job, as an art director and graphic designer for some of the hottest new clothing designers in the business, to articulate their vision in the second it takes to look at the name on the label of a dress or a T-shirt. His medium, if you could describe it as such, is logos, hangtags and shopping bags, the kind of things that subtly, but instantly, tell you if a designer brand is modern, fastidious, industrial, urban, preppy or too expensive for you.

How, for instance, do you explain Rodarte to the person who, with no prior knowledge of the two self-trained sisters from Pasadena, California, who take inspiration from Japanese horror films and unattractive birds, encounters one of their ragamuffin sweaters that costs more than $1,000?

“What is the word that I’m looking for?” Mr. Li asked as he described how he tries to distill the spirit of a particularly challenging Rodarte collection, designed by Kate and Laura Mulleavy, which has captivated the fashion world by seeking beauty in dark places. There is something refined about their clothes, certainly in the lush fabrics and detail of construction, but there is also something else that creates a sort of tension. Mr. Li toyed with the idea of calling that something “roughness,” and then “masculinity,” before dismissing both words as incomplete and deciding the one he really wanted was “grotesque.”

“They are interested in this collision between refined and grotesque, and how something unexpected or new can come from that combination,” he said.

As the gestation of a designer label, from birth to media sensation, has shortened to a time period that would make overnight seem like an eternity, the role of behind-the-scenes image makers like Mr. Li has become increasingly important. The designers have to be noticed or they’re gone. In addition to the Mulleavys, Mr. Li works with Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim and Jason Wu, each a recent phenomenon, by crafting the visual cues that will help make customers recognize their work.

Mr. Wu, who shot to international stardom when Michelle Obama selected his one-shouldered white gown for the inaugural galas, described Mr. Li as “the best-kept secret in fashion.” He has also worked with bigger companies like Chanel and Bottega Veneta, and the upscale American retailer Nordstrom hired him to refresh its image.

Mr. Li, 41, often works with an invisible hand, though you will recognize his work if you have seen “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” for which he designed the movie titles; or shopped in a Barneys Co-Op, for which he designed the clover-shaped logo; or read Louis Vuitton’s new coffee-table book, for which he art directed. Mr. Li also designs the fashion show invitations that are mailed to hundreds of editors and store buyers each season.

Before Mr. Li started working with Phillip Lim, the designer had already created his own logo using his signature as a way to make it seem more personable. His peppy clothes have a broader commercial appeal than those of Mr. Li’s other clients, so it was important that the packaging not feel esoteric or too narrowly focused. Mr. Li introduced a signature element of adding stitched threads to packaging and invitations.

So, in a neat trick of the eye, it seems as if even a mundane element has been touched by the designer’s hand.


TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES; LEFT, YANA PASHKOVA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES / Patrick Li added stitched threads to an invitation by Phillip Lim, suggesting it was handmade.