ZIGGY CHEN was born in 1969 in Wuhan, China. In 1990, he began an Arts and Crafts major specialising in fashion design at China Textile University (Donghua University). He graduated in 1994 and immediately started his career teaching at China Textile University. In 1999, he founded and became CEO of Shanghai Shiyi Co., Ltd. In 2001, he left his position at China Textile University and founded his eponymous label in 2012, ZIGGY CHEN.
ZIGGY CHEN embodies the encounter between tradition and contemporary times, with a strong emphasis on research, fabric, details and volumes. He redefined and blurred the concept of old and new with a unique approach and aesthetic. He presented his first collection for AW12, starting his evolutionary research process with unique materials and textiles sourced from around the world and developed with his distinctive approach in his Shanghai Atelier.
ZIGGY CHEN's collections evoke an intangible energy that blends rawness and durability with softness and elegance. This energy encapsulates and recalls subtle elements of natural beauty through the use of natural fibres such as linen, hemp, wool, and cashmere and hues such as crimson, tan, olive green and beige. The artisanal construction of each collection maintains a natural finish with striped, crumpled, reassembled, yarn-dyed and overdyed fabrics with multi-dimensional trompe l'oeil effects, a natural spontaneity and relaxed and comfortable volumes.
Alongside the natural world, Ziggy Chen's national identity is reflected through the use of Traditional Chinese workwear, military uniform details from Southeast Asian art and culture, which he seamlessly blends with glamorous clothing from 17th century Europe and the ruggedness of American workwear, reworked into soft and sinuous silhouettes which caress the body with poetic decadence in the urban landscape. ZIGGY CHEN epitomises and encapsulates the contrast between East and West, tradition and modernity, old and new, and past and present in an understated, timeless and reserved form.
ZIGGY CHEN has been developing patterns and fits for over a decade with his unique deconstructed tailoring whilst continuously attempting to perfect the wearability of his collections, making his creations suitable for most body types.
