Fashion: Asian Domination at CFDA/Swarovski Award

The annual CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) award was held at the Lincoln Center in NYC this past weekend and the Swarovski award, which is awarded alongside to the CFDA awards, went to three Asian-American young designers. The award has three components, womenswear, menswear, and accessories and the three respective winners are Jason Wu, Richard Chai, and Alexander Wang.

From left to right: Jason Wu, Richard Chai, Alexander Wang

This just further prove the rising star of Asian American designers. For some reason us Asians just seems to get New York chic, or maybe soon enough, this bunch of young Asian American designers will be the ones defining NY chic. Two decades ago it was Anna Sui and Vivienne Tam who was holding the torch of Asian designs, and back then the success of Asian designers was seen as marginal and limited in numbers; then along came Vera Wang who stepped it up a notch in terms of main-stream quality and reputation, and all these designers have paved the way for this new crop of Asian American style-makers.

Jason Wu

Alexander Wang It-bag and It-shoes

Something similar among them is that they're all benefactors of modern consumer psychology. The youth-nization of consuming power and the need of instant gratification fueled their success. Their designs are modern and trendy with good quality; and fueled by stylists and editors' love, it's hard not for these designers to rise in the ranks. One notable standout is Alexander Wang, who's famous for his dresses and accessories which girls, Asian or not, all are dying to own. His three years old company is quickly expanding into 5 collections a year, major department store support, and a money-making handbags and shoes line that is constantly churning out editor's pick and season's must-buy.

So congratulation to the three designers, they'll all receive press and monetary support, on top of an enhanced supply of crystal by Swarovski, which should be particularly beneficial for Jason Wu and Alexander Wang.

Here's a list of popular Asian American designers in NY nowadays: Jason Wu, Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang, Richard Chai, Derek Lam, Peter Som, Thakoon, Prabal Gurung, and the list is growing.