Asia has become a major focus for fashion and the luxury market in the past
year. This season at New York Fashion Week, several Asian-American
designers had the privilege of showing their collections, and proved that
Asian-Americans and the Asian market have become key power players in the
fashion industry.
Tadashi Shoji’s collection was described as a remix of body ornamentation.
The designer took his inspiration from tribal body painters, and never has
tattoo printed clothing looked so good. His first look was a black/nude
long sleeve tattoo-motif printed mesh bodysuit and black crepe belted wrap
mini skirt. Bodysuits aren’t easy to design in a sophisticated or artistic
way, but Shoji’s skills in the realm of creative design shined through
keeping it elegant and classy.
This season, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council sent three local
designers to take part in New York Fashion Week for a program titled
Fashion Hong Kong. The designers sent an explosion of colors down the
runway, and reminded us that Italy and the U.K. aren’t the only countries
with exceptionally skilled tailors. The motivation behind sending these
designers to show at NYFW was to help broaden their U.S. market base, which
what better place to do it than the most high-profile week on America’s
fashion calendar.
One Asian-American designer who actually took his inspiration from
Victorian England was Minsoo Chung of O’2nd. The designer’s passion for
vintage was displayed with sophisticated items such as a cut-out detail
long sleeve jacket, a gazelle fur front shoulder cut-out top, and a mink
fur trim tailored coat paired with black plaid straight leg pants. Chung
also took inspiration from American artist Frank Stella’s black and white
artwork, hence the use of so many neutral colors in his collection.
There is greatness to be made when artistic inspiration is taken from all
over the world to influence a designer as skilled as Chung, and this
collection is proof of how great it can be.
The designer who brought about an excellent finale to the day was Demi Park
of Demoo Parkchoonmoo. Park first came to the attention of the American
market back in the day when she showed at Concept Korea, and this season
she has continued to find inspiration in traditional Korean garb. The
collection is an homage to the designer’s mother, and resulted in more use
of color versus the usual black and white she is known for.
This season, colors like gold, burgundy, camel, and eggplant were selected
to be worked into looks like wide, long skirts and an empire-waist evening
dress. She also made use of luxurious materials such as mink, cashmere, and
alpaca. For Park, the goal was to exude glamour and self-confidence through
clothing all while giving Korean inspiration and style a place on the
runway. These were all goals she accomplished successfully.
The growing Asian market and number of Asian-American designers is slowly
bringing a fresh and diverse voice to New York Fashion Week on the runways,
and a much appreciated voice it is.