‘Being Chinese is tough’: New York Fashion Week’s Asian designers on stereotypes, and the statements their collections make
- This year’s New York Fashion Week featured a crop of Chinese, Korean and Japanese designers who, through their collections, called for more Asian representation
- They speak about the stereotyping and labelling they face, putting their culture and heritage in their collections, and how they can reach a bigger audience
This year’s New York Fashion Week (NYFW) featured a crop of rising Chinese, South Korean and Japanese designers who brought with them Eastern culture and influences – and who, through the themes of nature, nostalgia and cultural exchange, called for more Asian representation in fashion.
Chinese-born, New York-based designer Wei Lin, founder of knitwear brand PH5, showed an autumn/winter collection at a presentation titled “This is not a jellyfish” at a studio in the city.
Outside, a line snaked around the block; inside the showroom, models stood on an ocean-like structure creating wave formations with their arms.
The knitwear collection, inspired by marine creatures and coral reefs, featured curved silhouettes in underwater blue hues, neons and pastels.
“This season is about going underwater with the jellyfish to see how ocean plastic is a big problem,” Lin, who is also a passionate scuba diver, tells the Post.