By Grace Chen New York has been part of my life as a designer since my years at the Fashion Institute of Technology. It is where I studied, began my professional career, and learned to connect design with the lives of the women who wear it. My work has since taken me back to Shanghai and beyond, but that connection remains. ¹ On September 8, I returned to New York for China Institute of America’s Centennial Grand Fashion Gala at The Pierre, where GRACE CHEN designs were prese