Black rose lace shows through pale pink tulle. Laser-cut edges open into fine voids, while strips of fabric and soft boa circle a tall boot. Released on October 31, the grounds × YUEQI QI collaboration does not leave the rose as a flat motif. Cut edges, translucent layers and the thick sole beneath them draw the flower into the structure of the shoe.
Cutting the edge of a floral pattern
The warm-pink MOOPIE x YUEQI QI 02 is a high boot layered with spray printing and laser-cut rose lace. In the official photograph, a grey-black floral pattern appears behind sheer material, moving between exposed and concealed surfaces. The rose is not traced by one continuous outline; it is made visible through small openings and overlapping cloth.
The brand describes the flower not as decoration but as a structure shaped stitch by stitch. Its rose lace translates a traditional lace pattern through precise cutting, then layers it to create a depth resembling embroidery. What makes the rose legible is therefore not colour alone. It is the distance between one cut edge and the layer visible beneath it.
This is not a botanical transcription of a named rose cultivar or a fixed number of petals. The official material identifies a rose-lace treatment and a way of building flowers through layers. The useful observation is not to guess the plant variety, but to see how the same pattern changes in density and outline each time another translucent surface crosses it.
A thick sole holds the light lace
MOOPIE places a black outsole, formed like a chain of rounded masses, under the upper. The heel measures about seven centimetres. Instead of disguising the platform as a thin hard base, it gives it the volume of swollen gel, then rests the lightness of tulle and lace above. Floral softness and the weight needed to support the body remain distinct, yet connected.
The second model, JEWELRY x YUEQI QI 03, pairs a sole of transparent spheres, about five centimetres high, with white lace-patterned parts and fringe. Where the high boot stacks floral layers vertically, the ankle boot lets fringe spread around the foot. The collaboration separates into two movements: one wraps the leg in height, while the other loosens as the wearer moves.
Rather than comparing the two by price or versatility, it is more revealing to notice how each produces lightness. On MOOPIE, translucent cloth offsets the mass of the black sole. On JEWELRY, clear spheres visually dissolve the weight of a platform. The plant image sits on the upper, but the way the flower is felt also depends on how the shoe supports it from below.
ROSA did not begin in a rose garden
The two boots first appeared in YUEQI QI’s Autumn/Winter 2026 collection ROSA, presented in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, in March 2026. The name may suggest a rose garden, but the official account begins with an underground space in Niigata called ROSA. A place maintained over a long period and its quiet light became the starting point, linking the collection to time that settles slowly into seams and layers.
Yueqi Qi studied knitwear at Central Saint Martins, gained experience in a CHANEL embroidery atelier and established her own label in 2019. Her intricate beadwork and handcraft are conceived as sculptures that move with the body. Within that practice, the rose lace reads less as a flower image applied at the end than as accumulated time spent cutting, layering and stitching.
The high boot is priced at ¥94,600 and the ankle boot at ¥68,200, both in sizes 22 to 30 centimetres, with distribution beginning on October 31 through the official online store, directly operated shops and other retailers. Before searching for a stockist, look from the top of the photographed boot to its base: the fine rose-lace edge, air held by tulle, white boa and swollen black sole. The rose is not merely pictured there. It emerges as the spacing between different materials.
