MODA Designer Profile: David Chen

With the MODA fashion show rapidly approaching, MODA blog is here to share all the details regarding the true masterminds behind the artistry of the show. MODA Designer Profiles is our one-one-one interview series with this year’s class of designers, and for this instalment, I sat down with 3rd year Econ and Creative Writing David Chen, who is the current Design co-Director for this year’s show to briefly talk about this year’s collection, his broad design philosophy and his directorial eye for the future of MODA’s design teams.

Let’s start with this collection. I’d love to hear your kind of elevator pitch for what you intend to send down the runway! What are some sources of inspiration for your collection? What are the big ideas? What are the ~*Vibes*~?

Have you ever seen those pictures of people who can fit a year’s worth of trash in a jar? That’s kind of where I took inspiration from…

I feel like a lot of people were working on or focusing their collections on sustainability and I guess I’m on that train as well. I was watching The Politician, and that’s where the idea first came from, and I thought about how I could expand it into two more looks. So one is inspired by a metal straw and the third…I still haven’t come up with a concrete design, but I may want to veer towards a more excessive look.

Broadly, I’m curious if you have a design philosophy or if you think of a certain kind of person when you put together a collection?

There are a lot of people out there who think that wearing expensive name brand things is considered fashion and then there are a lot of people who are afraid of fashion because they see these people - not necessarily gate keeping - but they begin to see fashion as this exclusive, name brand thing. I think one of the biggest things for me this year is that: Every piece I've made, I’ve used clearance fabric, even like a hat I made is made from a pair of old jeans. Fashion isn’t all about how much you can spend on your outfit, I think it’s super cool you can go into a thrift store and take a few pieces that nobody wants to wear and make them into something that everyone wants to wear.

It’s so annoying when people think fashion is just being able to buy full-price luxury item, and that’s just what drives me to make clothes.

Can you describe your collection in 3 words:

Scrappy. Unconventional. Excessive.

I want to show that fashion can be there very out there and very excessive and still very accessible.

With this year’s show being conducted under unprecedented circumstances, I’m curious to hear what unique challenges you find come about when designing under a pandemic?

I already have a procrastination and time management problem as is, and I guess with a pandemic, you’re even less motivated to just sit down and do what you love and you’re just trying to get through what you need to do. So that’s been a big challenge.

It seems like what pulls me through this year has really just been been celebrating each step that I make towards the final product. Some of the other designers were questioning if they could even design this year, given the pandemic, but David and I really just want everyone to do their best. It’s all about celebrating every little victory that you have.

You’re in a very unique position as design director, with so many young designers looking up to you as their mentor. I’m curious as to what advice would you give a new designer this year, maybe even what advice you would want to give to your younger self about the design process? What challenges to look out for or what moments to soak up, stuff like that.

I’ve noticed that one of the most challenging things is just starting. You have to spend a lot of money to acquire patterns and fabrics and stuff. For me, a lot of the time, it’s the fear of messing up and then having to spend more money or having to scrap a whole idea and start over from scratch. Not only are you spending time, but you’re also spending money. I think this year, I’ve learned that mistakes are beautiful. One of the best things about constructing garments is that you will inevitably run into something like your needle snapping or like something not coming out the way you wanted it to. But in that moment, you can choose to readjust very quickly. When the end piece comes out, it’s usually better than I would have ever expected. I think I would want designers to realize that there’s beauty in adjusting and just letting your intuition and your hands and the garments speak in the very end.

“I think I would want designers to realize that there’s beauty in adjusting and just letting your intuition and your hands and the garments speak in the very end. ”

What are you looking forward to most about the show?

Oh my Gosh, I’m so excited. With the show being virtual, more and more people are going to be able to watch it. I think that’s been a problem that MODA”s tried to address in the past, where the show has been unaccessible to a ton of people, with things like ticket prices or how quickly tickets sell out, but with this year being virtual, it’s great that so many people can watch it.

I’m also excited for so many of the new designers. With the experience I had last year, just standing there having the pieces you worked so hard on being displayed is such an incredible experience and I can’t wait for everyone else to have that.

All images courtesy of David Chen