" 阿拉是上海宁 "
"I am Shanghainese"
Memory / duality / home / the in-between / girlhood / individuality / family / nativeness / foreignness / familiarity / nostalgia / hunger / femininity / traditional / modernity / pride / shame / self-conflict / resolution
As an American-born Chinese who has grown up in both countries, my cultural identity is at the heart of who I am, and how I engage with the world as a designer. Moving from suburban Michigan to Shanghai, I neglected to absorb Chinese traditions and my heritage, and refused to acknowledge Shanghai as home. It was only through leaving that I felt immense guilt for not embracing my deep roots with the city. These experiences inform my inherently personal design process, and explore the culture I denied myself by reflecting on cherished memories and details of Shanghai. Celebrating and honoring the history of my family and the city itself, this collection expresses my love for my hometown, Shanghai.
Inspiration + Process
Playlist of songs I listened to while creating this collection - songs my parents love, songs I used to listen to on the bus going to school in Shanghai, songs by Asian American artists, songs that remind me of the city, songs in Chinese and English, etc...