How a new generation of Asian fashion designers is looking closer at their heritage than people like Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim ever did
- The designers behind fashion labels Lu’u Dan, Namesake and Commission talk about how their Asian heritage helps form their visual language and branding
- ‘Asians are starting to find commonalities in our stories,’ Lu’u Dan founder Hung La says, which helps others ‘see the subtle differences within our identities’
A decade or so ago, New York Fashion Week was dominated by names such as Phillip Lim, Joseph Altuzarra, Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung, Derek Lam and Alexander Wang – a vanguard of Asian-American designers who redefined what running a Western fashion brand could look like.
Yet by and large, whether they veered towards uptown sophistication or exuded downtown cool, the designers’ Asian heritage remained absent from their visual language and branding.
Fast-forward to 2023 and we’re witnessing a shifting landscape.
As the films Minari, Everything Everywhere All at Once and the recent Netflix series Beef have begun depicting immigrant stories with nuance, a new generation of designers shaped by their “third culture” have come to see their unique heritage and personal histories as invaluable touch points for their brand identity.
Born in America to a Vietnamese family, Hung La saw clothes as a form of non-verbal communication during his childhood in the state of Maryland.
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, and having stints at Balenciaga with Nicolas Ghesquière and Céline under Phoebe Philo, La branched out in 2017 to start cult womenswear label Kwaidan Editions with his wife, Leá Dickely.
