EJ SHEYANG

Designer

EJ SHEYANG JIN

Category

Women’s / Ready to Wear and Accessories

Brand information / About the designer

―What inspired you to become a fashion designer? Describe developments leading up to the brand launch.

The enlightenment of the fashion world struck me at a young age. When I was around 8 years old, I watched a drama on television that talked about the lives of fashion designers. I was fascinated by the world this TV drama presented and determined that one day I would be a part of that world.

―What is the brand’s concept? What do you want to communicate through fashion designing?

The goal of EJ SHEYANG is to create garments that can withstand fast-changing fashion trends and can hold their own place in the closet, treasured by their owners for a long time.
Personally, I have a dark yet humorous aesthetic, and I apply this to my designs as well. I don’t expect everyone to see my designs and fall in love instantly, but when someone does, I hope that person feels comfortable with their own identity while wearing my designs. That’s why I don’t have a specific image of a person I want to project through my works. I want all the people who enjoy my designs to maintain their originality. It inspires me immensely every time I see someone style my designs differently than I would. It is just so refreshing and exciting to me.

―What is your source of inspiration in creating fashion? What is your process of developing a design concept?

The source of my inspiration is the reality surrounding me. The cracks I find on my wall, the stain patterns on my clothes, or even the garbage piling up on the morning street could become my inspiration. Anything I encounter in daily life has the possibility of becoming the inspiration for my next collection.

―Who are your current stockists (areas, retail formats, etc.)? Describe the typical followers of your brand.

I’m very happy to see that the stockists carrying my designs all have their own unique aesthetics. It is such a blessing for a designer to have people with different styles appreciating their work.

―Which brands, designers, styles and cultures have had the most impact on your fashion designing, and why?

To name all the designers who inspire me would take weeks. However, I do want to mention one artist who completely shifted my design style. His name is Joseph Beuys. In my third year of college, we went on a class trip to Berlin, and at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, I saw Beuys’s works in real life for the first time. His passion, darkness, and sense of humor I sensed from his works were so sublime, and they gifted me new understandings of art, design, and our reality.

About 2024 S/S collection

―Why have you chosen Tokyo (Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO) as the venue for presenting your collection?

Tokyo Fashion Week is one of the biggest and best-known platforms in the world for fashion brands to present their collections. I assume it is every designer’s dream, including mine, to present their works here.

―What is the concept / image for your brand’s 2024 S/S season?

The collection is called “A Night in the Concrete River.” It is inspired by my encounter with a concrete river. It was an unexpected occasion, one night when I saw a river of concrete flowing down the metropolitan street. The streetlights cast their shine upon the flowing gray. I stepped into the river, and the hem of my trousers and boots soaked up the gray water. The concrete started to stick onto them, becoming solid and heavy, eventually forming a beautiful pattern that weighed down my steps. This entire experience reminded me of the concept of memory. Memory flows into us like a concrete river, drenching our emotions. Eventually, like the concrete, memories will solidify and sink into our past. We all carry lumps of concrete made of memories; they have shaped us into who we are. I aim to use this collection to visually represent the flowing concrete river of memories within each one of us.

―What is your vision for your show / installation?

I hope everyone at my show could immerse themselves in the river of concrete that I’m trying to present.

Future

―What are your brand’s future outlook and goal?

As a startup brand, we can’t be certain what we would encounter on our path. What we are focusing on now is to try our best to create products that we are proud of.

About TOKYO

―What does Tokyo represent for you?

To me, Tokyo represents a sense of order. It humbles me down as a person and as a designer.

―Which parts / sites of Tokyo do you like most? Why?

I like Tokyo at nighttime. Everyone is more relaxed here at night, and the whole city’s atmosphere shifts to a cozier one.

―What are your favorite / recommended shops (of any genres, e.g. fashion stores, homeware stores, food services), facilities and sites?

Any shop you encounter at a random street corner could make your day special. The surprise is the most important spice in life.

About efforts for SDGs

―Please tell us about your brand and personal efforts and challenges regarding SDGs.

I’ve started making works using recycled clothes and fabrics when I was in school. I deconstruct recycled clothes, piece them together randomly, and then turn them into mix-material textiles to create new garments. I continue to do that for my brand as well. I believe it’s each designer’s obligation to create works with considerations of sustainability. Consumerism has changed the way we shop. We are buying too many, and the factories are producing too many. Instead of making more clothes every season and doing more collections every year as brands, let’s pace ourselves and produce clothes that can withstand trends and last longer. We need to encourage customers not to buy more but to buy better. My school, Parsons, is doing a great job regarding sustainability. All Parsons’s students need to take a class called Sustainability. It lets us know and understand the brutal reality—the environmental problems, while also helping us gain the courage to try to solve these problems. I think it is very necessary to have more schools that provide classes like this. It will help all the young design students know that it is our obligation as future designers to make the world a better place for the generations to come.