Stringless

Category: Apparel

STRINGLESS STRINGLESS draws inspiration from the life of Anna May Wong, the first Asian film star in Hollywood. Celebrated as both a cultural and fashion icon, Wong lived between Chinese and American cultures, navigating a space shaped by multiple identities, expectations, and worlds. The Chinese kite became the project's central source of inspiration. In Chinese culture, the kite symbolizes freedom and the connection between earth and sky. Suspended between flight and grounding, it exists in a constant state of tension between liberation and attachment. Much like the kite, Anna May Wong rose above the limitations of her time, yet remained tied to invisible forces of identity, social expectations, and stereotyping. The tension between Chinese and American cultures, between belonging and otherness, became a key inspiration throughout the design process. The title STRINGLESS draws from a Chinese tradition in which a kite's string is cut as a symbolic act of releasing bad fortune. For me, this gesture became a metaphor for liberation from the invisible forces that shape us. Through this project, I sought to free the figure of Anna May Wong while also creating space for anyone who feels that something still keeps them grounded. The garment was developed exclusively from natural materials: virgin wool, silk, cotton, vegetable-tanned leather, and eucalyptus wood veneer. The decision to work solely with natural materials stemmed from a desire to explore their physical qualities and the ways they respond to force, time, and movement. Each material was selected for its unique character and contribution to the project's material language. Material development became a central part of the design process. A custom technique was developed for the garment's structural elements, combining molded vegetable-tanned leather with layered eucalyptus wood veneer. The leather was soaked, shaped, and dried into three-dimensional forms before being covered with veneer. This process allowed wood to become an integral part of the garment's construction rather than a decorative element, creating lightweight sculptural structures that retain the visual presence of wood while remaining wearable. Alongside this development, crinkled silk strips were sewn side by side, inspired by the pinstripes traditionally associated with tailoring. This manipulation created a surface that conveys both movement and aging, recalling an old kite weathered by time yet still drifting through the air. By reinterpreting one of tailoring's most recognizable visual codes, the garment establishes a dialogue between tradition, time, and motion. Through the combination of tailoring, material innovation, and the symbolism of the kite, STRINGLESS explores the tension between structure and release, grounding and movement. It is a project about the possibility of liberation, not through complete detachment, but through finding freedom within tension itself.

Download PDF 1