Returning to New York for China Institute’s Centennial

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 presented as part of an evening celebrating Chinese and Chinese American fashion. ²

This was a continuation of a relationship that reaches back to 2018, when I presented at the China Fashion Gala. That show included Modern Times, a collection inspired by New York, alongside work from our earlier collections. Returning eight years later for China Institute’s centennial connects that chapter of the house with the work we are doing today. ³

The evening brought together designers including Vera Wang, Vivienne Tam, Guo Pei and Jason Wu, each with a distinct point of view. Our different paths are important. Chinese fashion has room for many voices, shaped by different experiences and expressed in different ways. ²

For my own work, the starting point is the person.

I think about how a woman stands and moves, what matters to her, and what she wants to express. A garment should give her room to be herself. Its line, proportion and movement should bring her presence into focus, rather than ask her to disappear behind the clothes.

Chinese aesthetics are part of how I approach this. I return to the qualities of serenity, depth and richness: the calm of a balanced silhouette, the feeling carried by a subtle movement, the richness that reveals itself as you look more closely. These qualities can be felt without a familiar symbol or an explanation of where they come from.

This is the conversation I want our clothes to have with women beyond China. A woman may come from a different culture and still recognize something of herself in a design. She may respond to its softness, its strength, or simply the way she feels when she wears it. That individual connection is where cultural exchange becomes personal.

China Institute’s centennial gives us an occasion to consider how that exchange continues. For a designer, part of the answer lies in the daily work: developing a clearer point of view, making it tangible through clothing, and remaining curious about the people who encounter it.

My thanks to China Institute, Yue-Sai Kan, Lynn Chen-Zhang, and everyone who brought this gathering together. And to our team and the women who wear GRACE CHEN: you give this work its purpose.

There is still much I want to explore and share. I look forward to continuing that work, in New York and wherever our clothes become part of a woman’s life.