Fusion Fashion

By Fiona Ma and Heather Harlan
Rich, exotic Eastern fabrics crafted into Western silhouettes. Boldly cut clothes that seemingly drape around the body. Seemingly fragile outfits that resist virtually all affronts of weather and modern life.

Even as China woos New York’s top designers through the China Millenium expo, replete with ceremonial robes styled thousands of years ago, qi pao dresses from the 1930s and ‘40s, and seven dynasties’ worth of rich fabric and designs, a fast-rising cadre of Asian American designers on the East and West coast have woven such influences into their own innovative approach.

Last month’s Seventh-on-Sixth shows—New York City’s premier showcase for fall collections—featured the works of up-and-coming designers like Indian American Anand Jon and Korean American Corey Pak, as well as well-known Chinese American designers like Vivienne Tam, Anna Sui and Vera Wang. (Wang’s creations were sported on Kate Capshaw, Eve Weinstein, Holly Hunter, Grace Hightower and other stars at the Oscars on Sunday.)
As products of both the East and the West, most APA designers feel comfortable working with leather, silk and cashmere and with coated wools and ribbed polyamide. Cultural mindsets serve as inspirations rather than inhibitions, yielding creations like Malaysian-born Yeohlee Teng’s Teflon-coated kimono-style jacket with holster pockets, Taiwanese American Karla Hour’s wedding robes resplendent with heavy silk and detailed embroidery, and Jesse Khong’s wide-legged Vietnamese-style pants paired with a tight leather camisole. And while their heritage often provides inspiration, designers need not be confined to it, as seen in Zang Toi’s take on aristocratic France and Anna Sui’s inspiration from 1960s folk singers.

BARBARA BUI
Where did hip-hop star Lauryn Hill get the white dress with the front cut-out panel—the one she wore to the Grammys this month? Straight from Barbara Bui’s fall collection, which virtually defines the “urban modernist” concept.

The Paris-based Bui designs for a 24/7 world, as seen in her Seventh on Sixth collection: skirts with back flares, pants slit up the front, hoop skirts, and leather skirts with back drapes that reveal nude-colored petticoats. She works with high-tech materials—Teflon-coated wools, waterproof cottons, ribbed polyamide—as well as with pure cashmere, silk and leather.

The duality of Eastern and Western cultures inspires the French-Vietnamese designer to create fashions that reflect the yin-yang principle of combining strength and fragility. Working mostly with solid, minimalist colors like black, white and dark khaki, she emphasizes asymmetrical seams and strategic slits and cutouts. Yet despite the clean lines, severe angles and stark colors, the clothing on view at Seventh-on-Sixth seemed almost to float around the body.

DAVID CHU (NAUTICA)
The only Asian American menswear designer to show at Seventh-on-Sixth, Taiwan-born David Chu serves up a collection of comfort-inspired sportswear this fall through his Nautica line. Ranging from preppy to futuristic, his pairings at the show included tweed jackets and suits paired with crewneck or hooded sweaters, or with cotton dress shirts or cozy turtleneck sweaters. He topped denim jeans with a denim jacket—but steered far from preppiness by putting an orange cotton shirt and a petrol-blue tie underneath. To ward off next fall’s chill, he offers up a gray wool “cyber jacket,” a Kevlar nylon bomber, a tweed topcoat. And lots of parkas: quilted, leather and rubberized canvas ones.

“The longer you look at something classic, the better it becomes,” Chu said. “I want my design at Nautica to be contemporary, but I want there to be something familiar about it, too.”

HAN FENG
Han Feng aims “for the mature, modern woman who wants to wear something with personality that is also feminine—something that gives her confidence.” She began her career as a scarf designer—a fact that may explain the focus on the neckline in her Seventh-on-Sixth collection: A Chairman Mao-style jacket was topped with a high neck wrapped in a chinchilla scarf, and gabardine jackets with round, iridescent taffeta double collars were layered over contrasting taffeta blouses to give the impression of an opening rose. Roses also bloomed in a gray print on a long chiffon skirt and a pleated ruffle on the edge of a wool jersey vest. The theme carried over into the eveningwear collection, which featured velvet pants, skirts and coats smocked in a rosette pattern and matched with taffeta blouses.

KARLA HOUR
Drawing on a melange of cultures, Taiwanese American Karla Hour creates individualistic interpretations of the dress many women cherish for a lifetime: the wedding gown.

Capitalizing on a trend toward individualistic weddings, the designer’s; Karla Hour Couture bridal salon provides custom-made gowns that exude an Eastern elegance. Educated in Japan, Hour draws much of her inspiration from Japanese designs, particularly the uchikekei, a Japanese wedding robe made with heavy silk and detailed embroidery.

Before turning to bridal wear, Hour had for 18 years been regarded as one of the top freelance ready-to-wear designers for a number of Asian and European fashion houses. In fact, she moved to San Francisco 12 years ago to head up manufacturing for her AM-PM Sportswear Collection, a line carried by many large department stores. Eventually, though, she grew tired of mass marketing and turned her focus to fine couture.

In 1992, she decided to specialize in wedding gowns. Today, her custom creations sell for $2,000 to $9,000, depending on the intricacy of the design. Given the detail that may be required, a dress can take up to a year to make. For those on a tighter budget, Hour offers an extensive collection of rental gowns.

ANAND JON
For 24-year old Seventh on Sixth newcomer Anand Jon, the vibrant colors of his native South India—emerald green, fuchsia and violet—are as essential as black is to other designers. His full ballroom skirts, paired with a simple leotard or cashmere top, are made from material traditionally used in saris: silk woven with real gold threads and intricately embroidered and beaded. Trained as a jewelry designer, Jon has carried his knowledge into his new vocation, adding uncut diamonds and rubies to some creations.

Fascinated with the mysteries enveloped in voodoo, yoga and the Kaballah, Jon strives to create a bridge between that spirituality and a modern society. “I meditate every night, and when I wake up, I check my e-mail every morning.”

JESSE KHONG
From an embroidered leather camisole paired with a spider-web lace skirt to a prehistoric suede minidress, there’s nothing subtle in Vietnamese American Jesse Khong’s hard-soft juxtaposition. Inspired by avant-garde master Thierry Mugler, Khong’s somewhat daring creations are aimed for women 25 to 45 who love glamour. Like Mugler, Khong loves leather, saying “it makes a woman look stronger, powerful, authoritative”—and his juxtaposition of the material with lacy frills serves not to tone down that message, but to play it up.

The 27-year-old was literally born into fashion: His mother was a custom tailor well known in Saigon. By age 13, he had designed his first jacket, and three years later, he was selected to design costumes for a teen pop-rock group.

A recent immigrant, Khong is studying clothing and textiles at San Francisco State University and hopes to launch his Jesse Khong fashion line next year.

ANTHONY CRUZ LEGARDA
The classic pleated skirt pairs up with a intricately floral jacket in a signature Anthony Cruz Legarda design—one that incorporates exotic Eastern fabrics with modern Western silhouettes to exude Amerasian and Eurasian flair.

The 35-year-old Filipino American sees fashion as not only clothing but also social commentary. These days, he juggles his time between producing one-of-a kind designs for clients, volunteering on projects to further Filipino American heritage and culture; and working toward his next theater fashion show, which since 1995 has served not only as a showcase for his creations but also as a vehicle for his statements on the San Francisco lifestyle. Born in Manila on May 10, 1963, Legarda immigrated to the United States with his family at age 12. He earned a fashion merchandising degree with honors at San Francisco City College and went on to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, graduating with a degree in fashion design.

TOM MARK
Many a superstar sports Tom Mark’s form-fitting creations, which bring to mind the classic, body-hugging Chinese chong-sam gowns.

“My clothes must perfectly caress a woman’s body. Anything less and I lose sleep worrying,” says the California designer, whose label sports his Thai birth name, Mark Wong Nark.

With personalities like Drew Barrymore, Courtney Cox and Tori Spelling wearing his signature line, Mark has come a long way from the Thai village of Lampang, where he shared a small, dirt-floor hut with his father, his seamstress mother and three older siblings. One day, he criticized a woman’s outfit, and his brother challenged him to do better.

Mark did. After coming to the United States, he enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and began making knit dresses. In 1986, four years down the road, he was grossing $100,000 in clothing sales to boutiques, but then the 1990 recession forced him to close up and to sell his Hollywood home.

Some savvy investors in 1995 provided Mark with the money to rebuild his label. Today, Mark Wong Nark is a small but successful design house, known for presenting skin without sleaze. It employs 30 people and grossed some $1 million last year.

On the horizon now: menswear and a lingerie series. No lace, no fur. Just beautiful, simple designs in fine fabrics.

COREY PAK AND ANKE CRISPEN
Corey Pak and Anke Crispen—who together create the P.A.K. collection—made their Seventh-on-Sixth debut as part of the Moet and Chandon showcase for five upcoming young designers.

Their kimono-inspired wrap dresses, created from laser-cut fabric, allow for roominess and sexiness. A green long-sleeved dress, wrapped at the waist, tightly envelops the body, stopping asymmetrically around the knee. A wide-rose tube top cinches a bias-cut gabardine sleeveless dress. Matching pouches, attached in back, accentuate the elaborate waist wraps.

Trained as an industrial designer, the South Korea-born Pak, 25, explained that her designs are inspired “by everything from Parmalat Milk cartons to building architecture.” As she put it: “I design simple, functional clothing—stuff you can wear going grocery shopping, or for evening just by changing your shoes.”

ANNA SUI
Drawing inspiration from a documentary film about the Newport Folk Festival during the mid-1960s, Anna Sui reinvents the style of folk icons such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, incorporating the Eastern influence of mohair into a funky spin on patchwork skirts, ponchos, woolly fringe, and shearling in wild prints and color combinations in her Seventh-on-Sixth offerings.

Mohair, a Sui trademark, appears this fall in tweeds and ombre red and blue hues. Her wool dresses, separates and coats are livened up with black and white chain-link and domino patterns, and for evening, Sui focuses on black and white circle and windowpane patterns. To wrap it up, she presents wool ponchos in an orange and white waffle weave and skunk-patterned furs and paint-drip print polar fleece.

VIVIENNE TAM
The Canton-born designer brought to Seventh-on-Sixth a fall collection that literally shimmers with silvery, metallic fabrics, embroideries and sequins. Mirror-centered bagwas, the symbol of the eight enrichments, decorate T-shirts and skirts. A gray net sleeveless dress covered with hanging square flaps of fabric recalls the armor of the Eastern Han dynasties.

“Silver plays a key role because silver has always been used in Chinese culture for avoiding, dispelling demons and ensuring safety,” Tam explains. “Silver has provided both beauty and protection. I wanted to translate that feeling into my collection and help provide my customer with safe and beautiful passage into the year 2000.”

Tam’s line draws from classic Chinese designs: Dragon and crane patches used as badges of rank in ancient dynasties show up as embroidery on net shirts. The shui jiao (water foundation) pattern that first distinguished Qing dynasty robes soften a coat made of Neoprine, a high-tech rubberized fabric. Her evening line draws from the ornate costumes of the Chinese opera.

YEOHLEE TENG
If you like to wear white and other pale colors but worry about getting them dirty, then Yeohlee Teng’s Teflon-coated ensembles at Seventh-on-Sixth may be for you. Her white angora wool coat can withstand whatever might be sat on in a grimy subway car; likewise, her pale gray jersey top and skirt will deflect any unfortunate cocktail-party spill.

The Malaysian-born designer, known for her architectural shapes and functional, high-tech fabrics for what she describes as the “urban nomad,” offers for the fall a high-neck kimono coat with holster tie pockets, retailing for $1,040. The laminated black and navy wool fabric is both waterproof and breathable-thanks to an innovative “air-conditioned” structure. For evening, she offers bronze and pewter strapless and trapeze-neck dresses.

On how China influences her own designs, she said: “It effects how I think from the inside out. Part of Asian design has to do with simplicity and proportion. It’s like those landscape paintings you see of a man and the mountains in the background. It’s that sense of proportion that carries over to the designs. Nothing that I design really shouts out at you.”

ZANG TOI
Malaysian native Zang Toi brought to Seventh-on-Sixth a series of evening and daytime looks using his trademark vivid colors and sensuous fabrics, dominated by burgundies and browns.
“I design for women who want the best in life—a woman who is very confident and has a sense of style,” says the designer.

Truffle-colored turtleneck sweaters paired with matching cotton trousers and cocoa cashmere suits and dresses seemed positively sedate compared with Toi’s evening line, which exuded a decadence that recalls 17th century France before the revolution: Burgundy silk velvet museum gowns with pansy appliqués, full ballgown skirts in silk taffeta with a “Marie Antoinette” floral print, sleeveless wool dresses with lace backs.

VERA WANG
Famous for her sexy bridal designs and her recent forays into evening wear, Wang ventures into new territory this fall, as her Seventh-on-Sixth selections show.

For day, she offers earth-toned outfits like cashmere tube-tops and wool gauze pants under a leather coat, or a merino-ribbed knit dress with a shearling jacket. East-West interpretations come out in evening with her floral jacquard mandarin dress in brown, or a silk slip dress that serves as a canvas for a Chinese-painted landscape.

Heather Harlan reported from New York; Fiona Ma reported from San Francisco.