Emerging fashion designer Wenny Han is on a mission to redefine what it means to be a fashion designer. Born in China and raised across Canada and the United States, Han brings a truly global lens to her work, merging the intellectual rigor of fine art with the tactile beauty of fashion. Her designs are rooted in Cubist aesthetics and infused with quiet emotional depth. She speaks to identity, transformation, and memory through her creativity.
This fall, she joins the Global Fashion Collective at New York Fashion Week, presenting a collection that positions her as a bold new voice in wearable art. Culturalee sat down with Han to discuss her inspirations, the significance of representing Asian female designers on an international stage, and the vision behind her latest collection.
Han’s designs explore the intersection of fine art and wearability. Born in China and raised across Canada and the United States, she brings a global perspective to her design philosophy. Her practice blends abstract storytelling, color theory, and unconventional tailoring with influences of Picasso.
Her debut at New York Fashion Week marks more than just an impressive milestone for a young designer–it signals the arrival of a fresh perspective in fashion, one where art, culture, and emotion converge. As she continues to explore the intersection of heritage and innovation, Han is carving a space for herself not only as a designer to watch but as a storyteller using fabric as her canvas. The world will certainly be seeing more from her, and Culturalee will be following her journey closely.
Wenny, congratulations on presenting your collection with Global Fashion Collective at New York Fashion Week. As such a young designer, what does it mean to you personally and professionally to be given this international spotlight?
It feels like being handed both an opportunity and a responsibility. Personally, it’s surreal to think that sketches I made at my desk are now stepping onto an international runway. Professionally, I see it as a chance to manifest my ideas outside of the classroom or studio, on a platform where people from around the world are watching. For me, the runway is the battlefield of fashion, it’s not just about being seen but about embarking on a dialogue through my work.
Identity is my representation, but I’m more than my cultural Identity. I carry my personal philosophy into my designs, yet I also carry stories, aesthetics, and histories from my cultural identity that inevitably find their way into my designs. Representation matters because it widens the lens of what fashion can look like and who gets to tell those stories. If another young creative sees me and thinks, “I don’t have to wait until I’m older, or until the industry invites me in, I can build something now,” then that’s powerful.” Wenny Han
Your background spans China, Canada, and the United States–how does this global upbringing shape the way you approach fashion and storytelling through clothing?
Growing up in China, Canada, and the U.S., it only felt natural to never orient in just one way. My perspective is naturally diverse, and instead of smoothing those edges, I try to emphasize the uncompromising nature in my work. It’s why I gravitated toward Cubism, the idea of breaking forms and the redefinition of space and perspective resonates with my introspection and fashion philosophy. For me, fashion practice is a way to stitch those fragments together into something that feels cohesive.
Your designs are often described as merging fine art and wearability, with influences from Cubism and Picasso. Can you share how those artistic inspirations come alive in this collection?
Cubism wasn’t about making things look “beautiful” in the traditional sense, it was about shifting perception. I take that same approach with clothing. In this collection, seams don’t always follow where the eye expects them to go, colors clash in ways you don’t expect but still feel balanced enough, and layers of fabric of different transparency reveal and obscure at the same time. I want the wearer to feel like the garment changes dynamically, much like the living souls under the brush of Picasso.
What is the central theme of your New York Fashion Week collection, and what emotions or narratives do you hope the audience takes away from it?
The collection is about reconstruction, how something flawed and reassembled can be just as powerful as something “perfect.” I want the audience to sense a story in the distortions, the overlaps, and the contrasts, not just a piece of clothing. I hope my audience can resonate with balance in a new way, or even notice how asymmetry can feel harmonious.
Identity, transformation, and memory are recurring elements in your practice. How do you translate those deeply personal ideas into the tangible language of fabric, silhouette, and color?
Identity, to me, feels layered, so I use sheer organza to show depth and hidden layers beneath. Transformation is about movement, so I build garments that share a sense of tranquility and graphic quality in dynamic motion. And memory is often imperfect, so I play with distortion, unbalanced sleeves, and color blocks that interrupt the balance and fluidity. These are embedded into my design practices; they’re strategies that make clothing feel alive, not static.
Looking ahead, what do you hope this moment at New York Fashion Week will open up for you as a designer, and how do you envision your role in shaping the future of wearable art?
I don’t see this as a “peak” moment, but as an introduction to my artistic journey. I hope it leads to collaborations with revolutionaries who think beyond trends and define clothing as a medium of narration and memories. Wearable art, for me, isn’t about making garments that sit in museums, it’s about pieces that people live in, that move through the world, and still carry conceptual weight.
All images Courtesy of Wenny Han/ NYFW 2025.
