When you see an incredibly tall and — even by New York standards — more chic than usual passerby entering your local coffee shop in the East Village, it’s a good sign that Fashion Week is upon us. It feels counterintuitive, but just as you put on your first sweater of the fall, models on the runway in September are showcasing brands’ Spring/Summer collections for the upcoming year. That’s fashion for you.
Of course, the real fashionistas are not wearing what everyone else is wearing. Fashion is a statement, an attitude, and an art form. So here are RADII’s picks of brands by Asian designers for your next big fashion moment, as showcased at this year’s New York Fashion Week.
Grace Ling
Designer Grace Ling, hailing from Singapore, is an up-and-coming designer but a familiar face to many Hollywood celebrities. Her Spring/Summer 2025 collection, entitled “Neanderthal,” explores the relationship between humans and natural spaces, incorporating the designer’s technology-forward craftsmanship through items such as an entirely 3-D printed top that resembles the stem of a rose.
As Hypebeast puts it, the brand’s look redefines femininity as a source of power, embracing the feminine form through rugged, primitive design elements. Model Alex Cosani opened Grace’s show in a draping gown, which boasted a softness that contrasted its metal-plated top.
Shawna Wu
Shawna Wu is a rising designer who was born Taiwan, grew up in Singapore, and is currently based in Brooklyn. Her designs have been worn by everyone from Kylie Jenner to Lily-Rose Depp on the HBO show The Idol.
Shawna’s clothing embraces both sensuality and traditional textiles and rituals — her past collections were elevated with Chinese butterfly knots and beaded jade. In an interview with Vogue Singapore, Shawna said she cares about using non-Eurocentric visual languages in her designs, while also experimenting with techniques such as 3D modeling, traditional wood carving, and metalworking.
Bad Binch TONGTONG
Terrence Zhou, the designer behind Bad Binch TONGTONG, comes from Wuhan, China and lives in New York City. Though Terrence is a fashion designer, his work might be better characterized as body sculptures, which transform the human silhouette into imaginative shapes. In an interview with Metal Magazine, Terrence explained how the pandemic placed his hometown Wuhan under the spotlight and had a huge impact on him personally. His experience of not being able to return home when his family members passed away during the first wave of the pandemic led to feelings of separation and isolation, which he has expressed in his designs.
Lost Pattern
Lost Pattern, led by founder Cata Cheng and co-founder Yong Wang, is bringing 100% mulberry silk scarves to the streets of New York City. This new modern luxury fashion accessory draws on the long heritage of silk in China, where more than 6,000 years ago it was already a symbol of luxury in Hangzhou. Today, Lost Pattern’s scarves are crafted by local artisans in the very same city. At New York Fashion Week this year, the brand is unveiling its newest “La Isla” collection, bringing an ancient craft and accessory to the young, modern lifestyle of hip New Yorkers.
Kim Shui
Kim Shui is by no means a new kid on the fashion block, but her debut menswear collection for this latest season was certainly unexpected to many. Kim’s pieces are inspired by the Japanese idea of kintsugi, a philosophy that draws from the practice of reviving broken pottery pieces using lacquer and gold powder. Kim brings ideas of resilience and unity to her designs through reworking motifs from her past collections into the current runway show.
As a Chinese immigrant who grew up in Italy and currently lives in New York, Kim is not short of cultural influences to draw upon. In an interview with Hypebeast, Kim said that her brand takes all of these elements into one big celebration. Now, Kim is ready to bring menswear into the party too.
Banner image of Kim Shui via Hypebeast/Youtube.
