Interview with CCA Alum Jennifer Wang

Was it always your intention to become a sustainable and ethical designer? What was it that first raised your awareness on the issue of fast fashion? 

When I first became interested in becoming a fashion designer, that was in my freshman year of high school, and I did not know about the darker side of the industry at that time. It was during my first year studies at Parsons that I started learning about this in my classes, and I felt that once I knew, I couldn’t just turn a blind eye after that. 

What are the key/most important parts of the sustainable design process?

What I would define as the first important part of a sustainable design process is asking yourself “What’s going on in the world right now, and how can my work as a designer be in response to that in a positively meaningful way?” The world has more than enough clothes to fulfill our need from a survival standpoint—what we put forth into the world next should address a problem that needs to be solved or express a creative dialogue that isn’t being spoken yet.

Next would be technical problem solving, which would involve questions like ”What materials are most suited from an aesthetic and fit perspective? What materials are better choices for the planet?”

Finally, after creating a sort of initial blueprints/draft framework for a garment’s creation, I would encourage people to think about a garment not just as a one-time creation but about the garment’s future too—“What happens to this garment after it’s sold to a customer? What happens after the customer is done with the garment?” I think the best end goal would be designing a garment so it can exist circularly—”Are there different materials and garment construction approaches that would allow this garment to be recycled again in a circular system?”

You have designed a brand and collection named ‘ANTIDOTE’ that has sustainability as one of its values. Tell us a bit about the concept behind it and what your goals are for the project.

ANTIDOTE was actually a project that was born from my grieving process following the passing on of my two childhood dogs, Dolly and Charlie. In my head, I kept envisioning a world where they were still by my side, and the three of us would go on adventures in a dystopic, video game -inspired world. Being a fashion design major, I wanted to create the clothes I would have worn in this world because it was my way of becoming closer to that space and to them in our reality.

I’ve always felt that fashion is the expression of a story, and I became really fixated on this idea of “What are the other ways we can tell one story?” This exploration took me beyond the fashion space and led to me exploring the concept of interactive objects and virtual/digital experiences in fashion. At the time, from an emotional perspective, I just wanted to express what was inside my heart in different ways. But looking back, from a sustainability perspective, it taught me that my connection to fashion doesn’t always have to be material—that there’s ways, like virtual reality, to tell that same story.

Did you face any challenges throughout the process of putting the project together? If so, how did you overcome them? 

The biggest challenge in seeing ANTIDOTE come together was managing three distinct elements of the project on a concurrent timeline, with two of the elements being areas I was not formally trained in. Designing and creating clothes is something I felt comfortable in, but the space of industrial design (for the interactive objects) and game design (for the virtual reality experience) were completely foreign to me. I am fortunate to have had the chance to collaborate with my industrial design friends and be connected to a student from another school studying game design, so that we could make it happen! I had to learn to be comfortable in the unknown space, to not be shy about reaching out to others, and to manage my time and set goals by the hour, days, and weeks to make sure I was tracking as well as I could towards my final thesis deadline.

What are you most inspired by? How do you incorporate this inspiration into your designs? 

I am most inspired by wanting to solve problems that I see in the world. Be it something more technical or something more emotional, I feel the most joy when I can use my creativity towards some type of greater good. It all starts with staying aware of the world around us, which might materialize in my designs technically through a garment construction or systems approach, or emotionally in an aesthetic form.

Thanks Jennifer for taking the time to answer these questions! It’s been great speaking with you and learning more about your sustainable journey. We’ll look forward to seeing what awaits ANTIDOTE and following all the great work that you’re doing!