“I am a fashion designer.” This is my opening remark in every interview I do with the media. The education well-beaten into us in the past always informs us that we need to study hard to “find a good job.” The occupation has become a label that defines a person. Is being a designer a good job? None of us knows exactly what the right answer is. If you can get a sense of accomplishment and see what you do as a lifetime career, then life is good. Nowadays in 2022, what we are pursuing isn’t simply a job, but a source of income and also something meaningful.

The sources of all designs come from our perceptions. The architect An Yu-chien once said: “After physical senses are established, we can then talk about professional tools.”  Opening one’s senses so we can understand the world is the first step. Close your eyes and listen to your surroundings— noises in the city, the sound of rapid breathing, or the subtle movement of air. Do we gradually lose the memories of taste, a lemon’s tartness, coffee’s bitterness, or yummy cake icing? Sensory memory is the most precious thing. Readily available online information and images on the screen cannot replace our most unique senses.

After opening one’s senses and receiving training in design, one can stylize and use clothing as a medium to produce creative ideas. One’s design works will gradually transform into commodities. With a piece of clothing produced, the next step is to develop a fashion series. Afterwards, one will move forward to become a clothing designer. These are only the most basic requirements. What’s truly crucial is grasping opportunities. Successful designers lead fashion trends and cooperate with professionals to launch influential timeless works. These opportunities include cooperation with brands—clothing brands or cross-industry brands to raise the visibility of individual designers and their works. In addition, active participation in domestic and foreign competitions can also provide opportunities to network with the design industry and to know influential leaders such as fashion clothing procurement personnel, magazine editors, textile companies, and those who lead public opinion. Customizing clothing for celebrity is another way to be successful.

Between Taiwan and the World

New York Fashion Week was my first design show after graduating from college. Why was New York Fashion Week willing to give opportunities to designers who are new to the industry? The Asia Fashion Collection carried out every year by the Japanese Department Store PARCO and the VANTAN Design Institute recommends young designers from Asian cities to design clothes for fashion shows in New York. These shows provide opportunities to present some major cultural differences in creative storytelling, commodity marketability, team execution abilities, and performance creativity. As the supporting unit for Taiwan’s textile industrialists, the Taiwan Textile Federation bridges cooperation between the textile industry and designer brands in order to market Taiwan’s designs and fabric craftsmanship to the world.

Caption: New York Fashion Week (Photo by AUSTIN.W Design)

The sustainable development of designer brands comes from stable business practices. Participating in fashion shows provides an opportunity to be seen. Most of the Taiwan Proud products that often receive much publicity in the media have not yet been tested in the market. Products that have good market sales need to strike a balance between creativity and business. Getting to know international brands and participating in showroom and international trade shows to acquaint with clothing buyers is one way. Before globalization, imported goods stores were the only channel for people to explore and get to know international brands. Goods selectors then began to think about the styles of each store after the domestic market was flooded with international brands. They combine fashion space with art, daily life products, and even dining areas. Each store has become a rich expression of the city and provides a market for small brands. These stores are not clothing chain stores. Their sales may not be high, but they have less pressure in terms of stockpiling. Such stores have become the cornerstone for developing designer brands.

Caption: Backstage of the Asia Fashion Collection at New York Fashion Week

Caption: Style Selection by AUSTIN.W and the Eslite Bookstore Living Project

The Past and Future of Fashion in a Decade

The major change in fashion every ten years is a flip between new trends and retro. In 2008, as the subprime lending crisis occurred in the United States and the world fell into a recession, practical minimalism was on the rise. Led by the then CELINE female designer, Phebe Philo, countless works of contemporary influence were launched, including silhouette clothing that symbolizes female power, large shopping bags, and so on. Since 2018, we’ve had no shortage of food and clothing, and we have extra money to spare and the energy to consume luxury goods. Alessandro Michele of GUCCI is known for his maximalism. Flipping and stacking a brand’s historical totems, vintage imprints, and non-functional mini bags are now popular.

Taiwanese designers are also being seen in this fashion wave. In 2018, Taiwan’s first Taipei Fashion Week SS19 was held. For many years I have been teaching in colleges and universities, the question I ask in the first class is always, what is Taiwanese fashion? For the answer, I get an impression imprinted in my mind but have always failed to put it into words. Since the Taipei Fashion Week, designers have conveyed their fashion imaginations through material craftsmanship, sustainable design, Taiwanese Indigenous culture, Hakka culture and traditional art. Dressing is a part of life. As people care more and more about what they wear, Taiwan’s design capacity will grow more and more visible in the world.

Caption: Taipei Fashion Week 22SS  Beyond-Fashion and Art Confluence Show Photos

You may be a professional in the clothing and fashion industry or may soon have a supporting role. The charm of fashion will never fade. It’s always creating infinite imagination during the man’s finite lifespans. As a fashion designer, we are committed to creating meaningful works. There is no shortage of clothing in today’s world. The clothing industry encompasses things beyond slow life and fast fashion that people once talked about. Every piece of clothing produced as a commodity or for a fashion show carries its own meanings. When it comes to a designer’s unique style and creativity, sustainable design that is friendly to the environment, or the virtual clothing NFT conforming to contemporary values, it’s necessary to return to a designer’s  creative philosophy. Getting to know the self is the first step to being one’s unique self. There is no need to be afraid that of being your own person. We will all find our 𝝅 style of life.

Caption: Beautimode LUXJOY virtual dressing room