“I gradually started to feel disillusioned. I had great aspirations, yet there was very little autonomy, creative freedom or intellectual stimulation in the day-to-day operation of a commercial gallery, even though you’re dealing with art all the time,” Sun says.
“I didn’t quite feel fulfilled at work, and felt that my inner spirits and energy were withering.
“Although there are things I love about the art world, I knew that if I continued further in the industry, I would be drifting further away from being a creative.”
‘Deranged beauty’: how a Hong Kong fashion designer came to love contrasts
‘Deranged beauty’: how a Hong Kong fashion designer came to love contrasts
“I had zero training or experience in fashion – I’d never even used a sewing machine in my life,” said Sun, who created a fashion portfolio in three months by following YouTube videos.
That early self-taught body of work landed her a spot on the school’s fashion and textile foundation course; a year later, she was admitted to the prestigious fashion design programme.
“It was scary to leave everything behind and start all over again with no foreseeable future prospects,” Sun says.
“But, as cliché as it may sound, I’ve wanted to be a fashion designer since I was a child. It felt a lot more serious than a naive little girl’s dream, as it had haunted me for years into adulthood.”
Sun’s efforts were not for nought – in her first year, she garnered industry attention from international publications and established stylists who included her garments in their own cover shoots and celebrity styling.
Some of Sun’s biggest celebrity-related breaks came this summer, right after her first year at Central Saint Martins.
The same garment can be seen in the June issue of UK-based LGBTQ magazine Gay Times, worn by Ashnikko.
Despite leaving galleries behind, Sun says studying art history and working in Hong Kong’s art scene helped shape her creative process and has influenced her work.
Sun has been incorporating art into her designs, such as when she revisited French artist Gina Pane’s work – on which she once wrote a paper at HKU – for her first undergraduate project at Central Saint Martins.
Sun feels that approaching the same artist twice through different lenses – academic and art historical versus a creative fashion interpretation – has allowed her to “really dig deep into those ideas”.
“I am still constantly exploring and experimenting, but I am deeply fascinated by aesthetics that are dark, sensual, poetic, mystical, disturbing and obscure, which are reflected in my work,” she says.
These influences can be seen in her peculiar creations, which merge unfamiliar materials with the human body to create visually intriguing looks that challenge the boundaries of fashion and aesthetics.
“I am very drawn to the human body – many of my pieces have streamlined shapes that flow with it, while simultaneously transforming the body into an unusual, ethereal being.”
Currently, she is experimenting with unusual materials and methods, such as metal welding and plaster casting, to take on a “more conceptual and deconstructive approach”.
“Perhaps on a subconscious or conceptual level, I’m trying to re-image our presence into something hybrid, transformative and transcendental beyond our physical form and ordinary existence,” she says.
“It feels like after some detours, I’ve finally stepped onto the right path of life, to find my voice and become myself through fashion design.”
