Every season CAAFD selects designers as part of their  IM’Possible Challenge Program. The program is designed to empower and motivate recent graduates in the fashion industry. This season the CAAFD selected designer Moon Chang under this program. The recently graduated designer presented her SS 20 Collection at the New York Fashion Week. Her Collection was titled, “Hybrid Beauty.” It showed Moon Chang’s personal journey during the time she was going through PTSD.

The mood was set with the haunting yet musical music being played in the background. The models make-up was done in a way to make their eyes look swollen. It depicted the toil PTSD could take on a person. She presents a collection of 11 pieces with the focus color being black. Moon Chang described how she survived the death situation with the words “Being Cute.” In her collection, she incorporates cuteness with the use of ribbons, ruffles, and flowers. The cute elements in the over sized dresses created a contrast of cuteness in ugly places and the aesthetic of massive minimalism which is what the designer wanted to show through her collection.

All the piece in the collection are based on the order of evolutionism, death to rebirth to the ugly beauty, to the hybrid beauty.

For her materials, the designer wanted to show traditional couture in a hybrid manner. She did that by embedding velvet, silk, satin, organza and fallie with traditional techniques of millinery. She contrasted them with functional materials, like waterproof nylon, and heat sealed rubber. She uses these techniques to create The hybrid flowers  which translate into 2D print on silk and sequins, with stuffing, heavy embroidery, and beading to create modern camouflages.

For a designer debuting her first collection, the collection was pretty technical and one could see the through though process that went into creating the pieces. The concept of beauty in an ugly way was applauded by the audience and critics and there was just one word one could hear from everyone, “Wow.” 

Pictures Courtesy of: CAAFD / iMaxtree / Frontrow Press

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