Yayi Chen is a designer and artist who specializes in fashion design and art collaborations. Growing up in both Spain and China, her unique upbringing influenced and fostered her love for art and her ability to interpret art through a multicultural perspective.
She studied fashion design in both Parsons-the New School for Design and Central Saint Martins and has worked in several established fashion houses including Thom Browne and The Row.
Through her work, she has challenged traditional interpretations of fashion by focusing on multicultural women’s identities as seen throughout history. She also strives to empower women immigrants through her art collaborations.
Recently, she created a collection with London-based artist Cathy Mou and New York-based accessory designer Hau Yin Andree Kong, named “in tran. sient” – a collaboration of fashion, performance and film designed to address the plight of the invisibility and objectification of female Chinese immigrants in Europe.Yayi is the winner of several prestigious awards, including the 2019 Parsons Academic Awards of Creative Systems, 2019 Parsons X Solstiss Lace Sponsorship Award, and 2018 CFDA Scholarship Award. Her graduate collection “in tran . sient” has been chosen to display in the 2019 CFDA Fashion Future Graduate Showcase and the 2019 Parsons X Neiman Marcus Hudson Yards Exhibition.