Exhibition spotlights Asian-Americans in fashion

A new exhibition at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City will showcase the contributions (many of which go unrecognized) of Asian Americans at all levels of the fashion industry, from garment factory workers to high-end designers. Emphasized.

In doing so, “Asian Americans in New York Fashion: Design, Labor and Innovation” reflects the economic diversity of the Asian American community.

“The goal of fashion designers is to show the broad spectrum of how Asian Americans approach design, and to show that not all Asian Americans design things in the same way. America.” As for the topic, we as a class felt like that topic was overlooked in the exhibition, and that’s something we felt very strongly about including in the show.”

The exhibition, which runs until March 27, was curated by FIT graduate students as a response to rising anti-Asian hatred following the pandemic.

One section of the exhibition is dedicated to labor. It features a video of clothing workers on strike in Chinatown, New York City in 1982. There, more than 20,000 garment workers, most of them Asian women, went on strike to protest what they saw as unfair working conditions. The strike was a major victory for the clothing workers and a turning point for their union, which began working more closely with the Asian American women they represented.

“The labor sector is often overlooked when it comes to fashion and exhibitions,” said Sophia Daniel, another FIT graduate student who helped organize the exhibition. “Especially when it comes to communities that are working hard to promote workers’ rights, fair wages and working conditions within their communities, highlighting that and ensuring that those people do what they do for future generations and themselves. It’s important to recognize the hard work you’ve put in.”

A separate section showcases material about how Asian Americans in the fashion industry have fostered sustainability, innovation, minimalism, and intergenerational connectivity. The other showcases a range of works by Asian designers, including Thai-American designer Thakoon Panikgul and Opening Ceremony duo Carol Lim and Humberto Leung.

One of the pieces on display is a 1997 brown jacket with gold sequins by Yeohlee Teng, on top of another label bearing the name of the seamstress who sewed the garment, “Sue.” Features a designer label. Highlighting both tags in the exhibit shows what the invisible garment workers face at work.

Naeem Khan’s dress features an embroidered bodice, a key feature of his designs, and is also a tribute to his parents’ embroidery company in India.

The exhibition concludes with a wide-ranging section showing both prominent and lesser-known Asian designers and their collections from the last 60 years. According to the exhibition brochure, designer Shail Upadhya commissioned a black denim jacket with bright green paint that “bridges fashion and art,” while designer Gemma Khan’s brass buttons and horses. A green coat with details of “demonstrates the contrasting role of mass-produced design” in the New York fashion industry. ”

A strapless navy blue evening gown from the 1950s by designer Linda Kinoshita was popular among graduate students, Danielle said. So we had to investigate her further to see if there were early influences and designs that weren’t recognized.”