American fashion awards ceremony was held at Lincoln Center in June, an event often likened to the Oscars of the fashion world. This year it was quite special, as the major awards to the best new designers of the year went to three Asia-Americans: Richard Chai for men’s wear, Jason Wu for women’s wear and Alexander Wang for accessories.
It was the first time that all three prizes given by the Council of Fashion Designers of America were awarded to designers who are Asian-American. At the forefront of fashion stage in the US, many of the most promising new designers are of Asian descent, a group that includes Mr. Wang and Mr. Wu; Thakoon, one of the stars of the documentary “The September Issue,” about Vogue magazine; Prabal Gurung; Phillip Lim; and Derek Lam — names that are increasingly likely to represent the future of fashion.
This group of new designers has no consistent aesthetic style among the members, unlike the avant-garde design of Japanese designers who took Paris by storm in the 1980s, such as Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake. Alexander Wang’s street style looks, Mr. Lam’s polished dresses, the colorful mash-up prints of Peter Som etc. None would care to identify their styles as “Asian-American.”
Their brands are gaining popularity in Asia and I believe that fashion will be more exciting when encountering a cross-cultural challenge.
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