A new exhibition put on by Fashion Institute of Technology is to feature works of Asian Americans in the New York’s fashion industry.
“Asian Americans in New York Fashion: Design, Labor, Innovation” opened to the public on Wednesday. Graduate students from FIT’s fashion and textiles studies program produced the show, reported WWD. The exhibition will open until March 27, and present works from designers such as Shail Upadhya and Vivienne Tam, according to the Guardian.
The show celebrates the Asian American fashion community by displaying garments, photographs, textiles, and video footage. The exhibition is divided into two sections, one presenting fashion production, labor and use of materials from the 1980s to 2010s, and the other focusing on design narratives from the 1950s, Fashion United reported.
Amid the recent racially motivated violent attacks towards Asian Americans, the show aims to also gain support for the community.
Zoe Taylor, one of the show’s student curators, said to WWD that the team wanted to promote positivity with the exhibition.
“We wanted this to be a space for celebration, a space where people from the Asian American fashion community can come and see the actual faces of people who have been influential in the fashion industry,” Taylor said. “People who look like them and who have made a large impact.”
Taylor also mentioned the team of students wanted to focus on areas of the industry that are not normally explored in fashion exhibits.
“Although in the past maybe these designers haven’t been recognized as much for their contributions, it’s really exciting to know that we can display their accomplishments and achievements now, and show that these Asian American designers are not a monolith or one identity,” Taylor said. “They don’t create the same thing. They have so much diversity and are multifaceted in the way they are looking at design, the reason they are creating and the inspiration that they come to use.”
There will also be a virtual panel “Asian Americans in New York Fashion: A Conversation with Mary Ping and Christina Moon” to further the conversation about Asian American impact in the fashion scene in New York, according to Fashion United.
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story, or making a contribution.