Twinkling Delight
Twinkle by Wenlan was launched in fall 2000 by 42-year-old Chia, a Taiwanese transplant in New York. Chia is known in New York’s fashion world for her knitwear. Her very first collection consisted of 33 pieces of chunky, hand-knit sweaters, which became her signature.
Wenlan Chia is sitting at the airport waiting to board a flight bound for Japan. This trip, she hopes, will help her battle the recession and expand her business, and bring her fashion label to more countries. The label named Twinkle by Wenlan was launched in fall 2000 by 42-year-old Chia, a Taiwanese transplant in New York. Chia has always been fond of artistic experience, but being an artist didn’t interest her. A sociology major in college, she went on to study art history at NYU for her master’s degree.
“Afterwards I started working in galleries,” she says. “When I actually worked on the other side of art, not the creative side, I really wanted to create things. So I finally made up my mind to change my career. … New York is like the center of art. The city itself inspires me to feel that it’s OK to try something that I really like.”
She took classes at FIT, learning all the basics such as draping, designing, and patterning, before finally launching her own label.
Growing up in a tropical island like Taiwan, Chia has learned to embrace every culture and is open to anything. Street fashion, for one, is one of her muses. Chia takes the subway to work every day, just like every other New Yorker, and her subway rides offer a good chance of observation.
“Sometimes I see older women who wear really really traditional clothes. I would try and imagine if it’s a really quirky young girl wearing the same clothes, what it will look like. It might look very chic,” Chia says. “What I see plus some kind of imagination. This combination plays into what inspires me.”
Colors and floral patterns permeate Twinkle by Wenlan, which is optimistic and festive, something that is innately Chinese. Her art background also influences her on how she designs.
“I see colors and I see how a dress moves on a woman the same way I see a painting,” Chia says.
Chia is known in New York’s fashion world for her knitwear. Her very first collection consisted of 33 pieces of chunky, hand-knit sweaters, which became her signature. For Chia, knitwear embodies craft, something she says that is the opposite to her idea of fashion.
“Craft is kind of homey and fashion is all clean and polished. To mix them [creates] an interesting look,” she says.
Chia’s label ranges much wider now, including jewelry and home collections, which were developed rather organically. When she started the ready-to-wear collection, it became apparent that she needed jewelry to complement the clothes. She began borrowing samples from jewelers, but it wasn’t quite what she had in mind.
“Eventually I was just like, I should make my own, just like when I made my own color story, when I made my own patterns. I need my own jewelry to complete the look,” she says.
The home collection was born out of a personal hobby. Chia has a penchant for interior design and furniture. When she discovered it was never easy to find, for example, bedding, that was well-designed and affordable, she decided to create her own.
“A lot of my design is from what I think I need and what I think people will be looking for,” she says. “So it’s what I want, what I like, and it also complements my design concept. When people walk into our showroom, see the entire ready-to-wear, with the jewelry, with the home line and … everything, you don’t have to say more; people understand my design concept. They have a very cohesive story together.”
As she is waiting to board the plane, Chia says that she is excited about finishing her spring 2010 collection after she gets back from Asia.
“For spring, definitely a lot of colors. …and we like to use colors that are unexpected, like lime green and yellow,” she says.
There will also be abstract and geometric prints, coupled with subtle differences in the texture of fabric. A clean and fresh look with a slightly more fitting silhouette, playful yet polished, is what Chia wants to bring next year. With a fashion show planned for September, spring and fall 2010 collections in the works, it looks like Chia’s fashion career gets ready to take off yet again.
(Photo credit: Twinkle by Wenlan)
