Meet MOON CHANG

Check out the stunning works by this NYC fashion designer. Based in New York Moon Chang creates Sculptural works that focus on the dichotomy between that which is beauty and ugly. They Incorporate traditional techniques and interpret them through innovative, organic, often unexpected shapes. In our latest interview, we chat about inspiration, famiy, and the fashion industry at large.

A self-portrait by, MOON CHANG

Would you rather

have a perfect photographic memory, or be able to see up to one day into the future?

I always live for the future. To build up my future, I appreciate the present, as well as the past. I wish to have a perfect photographic memory. Sometimes, when I feel lost in the present time, I love to find answers from the past by tracing my memory. It would be great if I have a perfect photographic memory to remind me of the positive energy, youth, and passion I had, that would accelerate my present and future life with more joy.

Some Questions with MOON CHANG

What narratives do you gravitate towards in your work?

My aesthetic focus on the dichotomy between beauty and ugliness is an invaluable narrative of my own visual and psychological vocabulary. I love to play with the tension and dualism between aesthetic and senses. For example, I brought new meanings of black, which means dead, but by combining it with pink, I reinterpreted as an eternal color. I challenged myself to

break the stereotypes of beauty, and I used flowers as metaphors of universal beauty. My narrative brings into the massive size and weight of black with cute elements such as flowers, bows, and ruffles that create the tensions of contrasts and emphasize the aesthetic of massive minimalism as well as the beauty and cuteness in ugly ways.

As a painter and designer, do you see the two worlds interconnected? If so, how do you strive to bridge the gap between art and fashion?

When starting fashion, I just did not want to become a fashion designer, I wanted to be a “fashion designer who also does fine art”. Fine art and painting is the first and original communication tool that I use to communicate with my family and society, and it progressed to fashion design, something we can wear in reality. However, I do not literally combine painting with fashion, I prefer to give a hint that my aesthetic, conception, and technique is from fine art. I have worked on many different genres of fine art, from hyperrealism to abstract paintings, installations as well as video art, and still exploring them to corporate fashion in different ways. In the past, I did fine art and fashion exhibitions separately, but there was the moment that it all collaborated and harmonized smoothly together, and I realized both fashion and fine art are salt and light to me.

The fashion industry was one of the many industries heavily impacted by COVID-19. How has your experience been as a young designer navigating the current climate?

Due to COVID-19, many things have changed worldwide. As a young designer, I definitely was impacted by circumstances. Last year, I had many events and schedules in New York, Europe, and Asia, and they were cancelled, postponed, and also did virtually through zoom or online showroom. At that moment, I was very sad that I couldn’t travel to showcase. I feel it as skin to skin that the fashion industry is having a hard time, especially because many fashion events are reduced in NYC, which is the biggest impact. I have used this time as an opportunity to develop my new collection/brand in my studio, as well as prepare upcoming exhibitions. I believe that young designers including me can overcome this situation in a positive and wise way.

How do you hope the industry changes or evolves?

I wish the fashion industry to be more seasonless and trendless. Seasonless and trendless here can be timeless techniques and fabrics, also new approaches to the

design and production process. The trend and season should be followed by designers, what designers create and suggest should become its own season and trend. I hope not to limit fashion and art in certain seasons, trends or numbers, especially during this new era.

What is the best interaction you have ever had with an appreciator of your work?

There are many appreciators I would like to thank for loving my works. It is so hard for me to pick one, but there was a special memory I had. Almost 6 years ago, it was when I did my first industry review with my BFA graduate collection, Lynn Yaeger from Vogue, gave me a great appreciation, saying when she saw my aesthetic, it reminded her of Comme and Margiela in different ways, and she is excited to see my future approach. Sometimes I see her at Soho several times, and wish to say thank you all the time, but my personality is too shy. If I meet her next time again, I will say thank you to her in person.

What does your family think of your work?

My family is more excited and happier about what I am doing than me. I am the only one who does art and fashion in my family. Both my parents are from strong academic backgrounds, so they wanted me to study fashion deeply and professionally. That inspired me to get a master's degree in fashion as well. I am very thankful that my family trusts my possibility and supports my dream to become a fashion designer in NYC. They are very proud that I have achieved it, and excited about my upcoming career.

What advice do you have for other young designers beginning to build a brand?

The advice I always suggest is to “experiment a lot before starting a real brand”. Doing brand is a business, and many unexpected business issues will come up, but you need to keep the creativity and conception of the brand, which will make your brand stand out. Young designers need to experiment and learn as much as they can to realize their creative fashion in the real world of industry.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

My second brand, VENUS IN BLACK, will be launched soon this Spring. It’s born with the love of my dog, named Venus. Venus is mostly received as the goddess of beauty, however, Venus is my muse, black French bulldog. I interpret Venus as the symbol of dualism, which is also related to my design aesthetic and philosophy. It is ready to wear and product-based, it is wearable and functional clothes with couture and tailoring techniques that customers can also wear while walking with their dogs.

MOON CHANG