Meet the NYFW Spring 2017 Designer : Anita Szu-Yi Chen
Anita Szu-Yi Chen, an MFA knitwear design student at AAU, was born and raised in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She is one of the designers presented in NYFW Spring 2017. We were sitting in a Starbucks near Chinatown. My impression of her stays at NYFW designers’ curtain call. At that time Chen had gray shoulder-length straight hair and deep red lipstick in an all-black outfit, which made her look unapproachable. After meeting I found she was completely not the same as the one I imagined before. Today Chen was still in an all-black look, but her hair was shorter than it was in NYFW and she wore no makeup. She smiled gently when I first met her. She said, “My friends always say I am a case of cold hands, warm heart.”
“My undergraduate major was Material Arts and Design. After I graduated, I worked at En-Suey International Garment Company as a designer assistant in Taipei.” This work experience had great impact on her. Slowly, she came to love design more and more, even than what she ever thought she would. Chen said, “I began to ask myself, is design what I am willing to spend more time and energy on? Would I like to pursue a lifelong career as a designer?” Chen quitted her job and started to study at AAU after she answered yes to herself.
When asked why she chose knit design as her main work and what the difference was between working with knit design and other fabrics, she answered: “Since I decided to study at AAU, I am really falling in love with the texture and hand of knitwear. More importantly, I can design my own fabric for my collection. For knitwear, I have to count the stitches and how many rows to knit for making the shape, instead of just cutting the pattern.”
For all design students, design is not an easy work. They should do their best to accomplish each task, like other students do. Chen said, “We have to study longer than students in other MFA programs, because our school requires more credits than other schools do. Spending tremendous amount of time in the lab till the building closes, you can say I don’t have any personal life during each semester.” However, Chen has maintained a studious heart and “I never thought of giving up on my dream. I know it is what I like and want to do in the future. I got a lot of advice on my designs from different instructors and students who came from different countries and backgrounds. Because they could provide insights that I couldn’t think of by myself.”
About design inspiration, Chen said, “for designers, creative inspiration is everywhere - a fabulous painting, a style of an artist, a beautiful melody, a good book – they all are likely to become a part of the work. The important thing is how to capture them, which is a test of the basics of a qualified designer - the strength of observation ability.” Chen is good at observing every unobtrusive detail in life, then using it on her design. “For this collection, I was thinking that everything has different aspects between what it seems to be and what it is unexpected at the beginning. Just like construction and deconstruction, I got my design elements from some product packaging designs to create the structure and angular shapes. And I designed the reversible fabric with patterns on both sides on the each garment presenting opposite feelings. “
Working on knitwear design does not mean that she is limited to knitwear. Chen said, “almost all brands, even some sports brands, have knitted garments recently. I want to focus more on knitwear , as I am still in the learning process. I also think about working with other fabrics or combining other fabrics with knit. That is what I want to design in the future.”
It is each fashion design and knitwear design student’s dream that she or he can present her or his own collection on the stage of NYFW. Chen said, “during NYFW, every designer worked together in the studio and helped each other to complete the last step in a few days before the show. We shared the wonderful moment in the show together. The experience in NYFW is the greatest recognition to me after these years’ studying. I think it gives me more confidence on my capability.” For students at AAU today, especially fashion students, Chen suggested, “keep our mind open to explore and enrich the creativity. For the fashion students, if it is what you really like, don’t give up easily. I know there are a lot of hard times during the journey, but when you see your designs come true and all together, everything you have done is worthwhile.”
Images provided by Anita Szu-Yi Chen for 6 + done., 2016. Please do not use it without permission.
