For spring 2020, eight Asian designers from the Council of Asian Designers of America (CADA) presented remarkable collections at NYFW. They were required to adhere and choose from the categories of diversity, equality, innovation, sustainability, regeneration, and fine craftsmanship. They all showed spectacular collections.
Designer Maggie Hutauruk of 2 Madison Avenue was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, but she lived in the United States for 12 years. Her perspective on fashion is unique. At a young age, she studied painting, pattern-making, music, art history and apparel design. Her clothes reflect a woman’s lifestyle.
Bettie Kim’s career began as a model. Her designs are soft, fun and innovative. In her collection, each silhouette is embellished with unexpected details. Kim focuses on her client’s individuality. Shyi Huakai of Viyi Kwok brand was inspired by the traditional Chinese lion dance. The Viyi Kwok’s prints reflect different scenes that depict the company’s distribution around the world. The designer hopes to promote the mutual understanding of all human beings through the language of fashion.
The brand of Han Chun focused on simple and practical designs. They removed unnecessary decoration to adapt to different occasions in life. Black and white-gray silhouettes in traditional grid patterns are signature elements of Chun’s collections. The slim fit and large silhouette designs can be repeatedly matched to improve the utilization efficiency of clothing.
Bingyao Cheng’s label uses untraditional fabrics that can come across as costumes. Bingyao’s label “Bingyao Studio” selects reflective fabrics that are both wearable and fashion-forward. The idea is to project images of women who are feminine and powerful with an added twist of future influences. “Bingyao Studio” features a combination of functional, waterproof and windproof materials throughout the collection to present a bold and unconventional look.
Based in New York, Yi-Ting Lee’s aesthetic was developed through calligraphy. The brand pays strict attention to the contrast of sizes, color proportion, line-qualities and the structures of their garments. Shual Zeng’s brand focuses on conceptual design research that includes the exploration of sculpture and speculative design biology. The brand adopts the neutral element method to integrate the gender characteristics to make multi-structural tailoring with a little avant-garde style.
A Chinese menswear designer, Ruojing Wang creates work that stems from her knowledge and curiosity of classy menswear tailoring. She focuses on quality and fit. Heavily influenced by travel, street culture and history, Wang’s designs are well constructed.