Zang Toi is recognized as one of the most original fashion designers in the world. Zang Toi is originally from Malaysia, and his earliest shows put him on the map with stunning colors and designs inspired by Southeast Asia.
More than twenty years later, Zang’s newest collections are always a highly anticipated element of New York Fashion Week. This year he’ll be showing September 15 at the Studio at Lincoln Center.
Zang recently took a break from show preparations in order to share some of his experiences and thoughts with us.
Q: How did you get your start?
A: I established my atelier in August 1989, and an orange and hot-pink baby doll dress from my very first collection, Resort 89/90, was picked up [by] Anna Wintour and was featured in Vogue, November 1989.
Q: What are your greatest influences?
A: The period style of Louis XV, Marie Antoinette, Madame de Pompadour, and Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
Q: What are your favorite fabrics and materials?
A: Loro Piana cashmeres for fall and winter, and couture silk shantung custom weaved for me in Lake Como, Italy, for spring and summer.
Q: How do your Malaysian roots inform your work for an international clientele?
A: Actually, I would have to trace my Chinese roots all the way back to Hainan Island, where my great-grandfather from my mother’s side was a fine carpenter. After a visit to our ancestral home there seven years ago with my family, I realized that I must [have] inherited the creative gene from great-grandpa that serves me well in servicing my international clientele.
Q: If you could sum up your attitude towards fashion in just three words, what would they be?
A: Unique, chic, and glamorous!
Q: In your eyes, which women alive today are the most stylish, the bravest, the most original?
A: The First Lady of France, Carla Bruni. Her beauty and style is the epitome of effortless chic simply make the others look like very unfortunate “fashion victims.”
A model wears one of Zang Toi's Fall 2009 pieces.
Q: What single-most important piece of advice would you give to young people who seek to work in fashion?
A: Work ethic. Hard work is key to success!
Q: What’s a look that you really can’t stand?
A: Aging ladies tittering painfully in hideous platform shoes. Not [a] very pretty sight.
Q: If you could live in any era of history, which one would you pick?
A: I would love to live inside the beautiful and romantic world of Fragonard’s paintings.
Q: What’s your favorite part of putting on a fashion show?
A: Narrating a beautiful story of my collection that hopefully puts a smile on my audience.
Q: The least favorite?
A: The ridiculously high rental of the show space of 7 on 6.
Q: Of all the shows you’ve created, do you have a favorite?
A: My Fall 2004 collection.
Q: Do you have a muse? If not, have you ever had one?
A: No, as it would limit my creativity.
Highlights
