/ Ziggy Chen

SHANGHAI-CRAFTED AVANT-GARDE WHERE EAST MEETS WEST IN NATURAL FIBERS & POETIC VOLUMES

Born in Wuhan in 1969, Ziggy Chen studied fashion design at China Textile University (now Donghua University) and taught there before founding his eponymous label in 2012, debuting with AW12. What sets the brand apart is its fabrics: since 2013, Chen has developed his own custom textiles in his Shanghai atelier, starting from natural fibers sourced around the world — linen, hemp, wool and cashmere. All dyeing is done in-house, through a slow, laborious process of yarn-dyeing and overdyeing, followed by crumpling and reassembling. The result is fabrics in crimson, tan, olive and beige with trompe-l'oeil depth and a natural, spontaneous finish you won't find elsewhere.

Chen blends traditional Chinese workwear and Southeast Asian military details with 17th-century European glamour and rugged American workwear, reworked into soft, sinuous silhouettes. More than a decade of pattern development and deconstructed tailoring gives his pieces relaxed, comfortable volumes that suit most body types — an understated, timeless dialogue between East and West, old and new.