Conversation with Anna Zhou
When it comes to conversations around fashion, I’ve always been interested in the intention behind the work. Oftentimes in our culture and society today, everything is so instantaneous, and everyone is eager for the finished, final product. This is why I enjoy being a journalist because I get to have the opportunity to sit down with creatives in the fashion industry and actually get to know the designer. Yet, even I have my own preconceived notions about how the interview will go. I often brace myself for a generic interaction and can even predict what some of the answers will be to my questions before I even ask them. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I sat down with Anna Zhou to discuss her most recent collection, time spent on the program Project Runway and how becoming a parent has affected her design process.
The universe was certainly at play and had other plans for this meeting. After the Thanksgiving holiday I reached out to Anna to set up an interview via Zoom and after multiple attempts and location changes throughout my home, we just couldn’t find the right connection. I proposed we meet in person the following week near her home in Menlo Park here in the Bay Area and I’m glad we did. Finally, a connection was found. Meeting in person is always my preference anyways. When you can sit across from another human, share a cup of Philz Coffee and chat about each other’s handbags before you dive into an interview…well you can’t replicate that over a video call. That’s just what me and Anna did. By the end of our discussion, once the recording was finished, we had a lovely chat about multiple topics that had nothing to do with fashion or design or Christian Siriano hosted television programs. We connected on a woman-to-woman level, two people trying to remain authentic and true to themselves and their craft.
My conversation with Anna was actually something I think I may have benefitted more so than her. Maybe I’m wrong. Our interaction has come at a time in my life where I’m at the age where I’m asking questions such as, what’s next for me and can I reconcile being a mother and remaining authentic to my core programming? You know, those “easy” to answer musings that we all have at some point or another, or at least questions along those same lines. Our conversation in fact did begin outside of a Philz Coffee shop on a sunny day in Menlo Park albeit a bit brisk. I sat down while Anna kindly ordered our beverages and silently admired her Balenciaga Hourglass Top Handle Bag. Anna comes outside and we begin our conversation discussing her most recent collection from her brand ORAZ titled, “Dark Romantic.”
Kailyn Chadwick: Okay, the first thing I’d like to chat about is your most recent collection, “Dark Romantic.”
Anna Zhou: Ah, yes Dark Romantic. It’s my personal aesthetic, elements such as cool, feminine, dark, romantic and the avant garde. These three are my aesthetic. This collection was inspired too, well it’s been a long process because I started this project before I was pregnant. In between I was pregnant and had a baby and he’s a month old right now. So, it’s been a long time, I have to go all the way back to the beginning.
KC: Yes, take me back to the beginning
AZ: I started this collection after Project Runway, season nineteen. And doing the whole experience I discovered my personal story even more so than before and I wanted to use this chance to build a collection to emphasize and to speak to my voice. So, I made a collection that was specifically as “dark romantic” instead of [a collection] about “everything.” So the collection has elements that are between modern and classic, mid century and also a very cool, edgy Madonna kind of thing. Between these things I found a balance for my collection.
Image: ORAZ
Anna explains to me how her collection was inspired from one of the looks she did for Project Runway. A look she calls, “Hauntingly Chic,” was the jumping point that launched her idea for the Dark Romantic collection. The full length, tacked ruffle sheer dress complete with a veil that she designed for a Project Runway challenge became the inspiration for her most recent collection. Surprisingly, another challenge that centered around streetwear gave way to more inspiration for her hauntingly chic collection.
AZ: It was the challenge for the streetwear look. However, I did something very innovative because I had no idea what the current stereotype of streetwear was, I didn’t have that sense. So, I did my own type of streetwear, completely on my own.
KC: Because you had no outside perspective, it came purely from your own mind and interpretation of streetwear. Yeah.
AZ: Yeah and I’m definitely not a streetwear person. I don’t believe it has to be one stereotype or the other. Streetwear can be anything. I created one and my title was, “Freewear,” and I wanted to see more of that look on the street in the future. So a few elements that I spotted from that challenge became a part of my collection.
Turns out, which I had no idea about, while filming for Project Runway, there are long periods of time where you have no contact with the outside world. Anna tells me that for at least two weeks after she first started filming, she wasn’t able to contact family or friends. She also explained that they’re not allowed to seek any outside inspiration or fashion research for their challenges. No cell phones or laptops were allowed to be used while filming, prompting the designers to solely use their own minds and creative abilities to design for their challenges. Anna credits this tactic and experience to her finding her true aesthetic which was manifested as the Dark Romantic collection. After only a year after her graduation from Academy of Art University, Anna began to build her brand and she wanted to use Project Runway as a means to communicate her own voice and personal aesthetic.
AZ: I thought it was very important to have a collection that was just for me. People kept asking me what my aesthetic was and it was like, “I don’t know yet!” I started to build my brand after school, at that time it was only one year so I wanted to use that chance to use my voice and say my aesthetic.
KC: Now, it’s amazing you’ve actually been on the show twice now? Season 19 and Season 20 where they bring back designers for an “All Stars” season. What is the filming process like and how does it affect the pressure of designing and working?
AZ: Okay, so we had to do morning and nighttime “reality.” Which is how you wake up, get off of the bed and it’s all on camera. You basically don’t have your own schedule, your schedule is following the production schedule, it’s seven days a week. No break. From the morning usually until midnight and it’s very intense. I will just say it’s not an easy job to accomplish. Yeah, and people will quit and they will be traumatized and in the meantime we still have to do the competition.
After filming season 19 and 20 of Project Runway, the latter which will premiere this summer, Anna explains that before the show she treated design as more of an art form, and while she considers herself an artist, now her attention is more focused on her audience. Answering the viewer or consumer’s questions regarding her creation process or event the concept of her work has gained more importance now compared to before Anna filmed the show. At this point in our talk I’m already noticing a pattern of before and after. Now, we move on to another one. Design before Anna gave birth to her son, and design after. I asked Anna if becoming a mother has changed her approach to fashion and she almost immediately answers with an excitement in her voice and a light in her eyes.
AZ: I started to use a lot of color. I’m still chilling when I’m saying this because I feel like, you know- have you watched the show Wednesday? They said Wednesday is allergic to color, I was allergic to color. Okay? I was that person, but I wasn’t aware. There was a period when I was allergic to color. [Laughs]. I was really dark in my mind, so there was this moment when I had a lot of life experience, a traumatizing period of time and I was very dark. And I can see my work through my emotions, so I think the pregnancy process changed my perspective and my life completely.
Image: ORAZ
KC: It’s so insane how such a tiny human can really impact every part of your life and bleed into your whole creative process like that. Literally, making you see in color. No longer allergic or “color blind.” [Laughs]
AZ: Even my personality, very black and white before versus after and now I feel like I want to enjoy my life every second. I see the world in color compared to before. I started to add red and pink and I like to play with elements from my boy such as his bear hat, his pacifier or even his safety belt from his stroller. I never thought I would get inspired from baby stuff. Especially the perspective on things I have now being a mom. My respect for women, being a mom and I want to use my designs to empower women. I really discovered I want to keep doing womenswear and make women feel empowered.
KC: That’s amazing…really. So beautiful. It’s comforting to me to know that it’s possible to still maintain that part of you, that is you in addition to becoming a mother. That scares me a lot as I get older. Can you describe to me your creative process a bit more?
AZ: When you are the creator of that little one and you are protecting his whole life, you have that authority, that power and responsibility, you will just feel empowered. You really, really feel fearless. I really enjoy my creative process because I think I’m able to do something unusual which is transforming my emotions into a tangible piece. I never really get inspired or copied something else like the shape or color from a reference picture. I’ve never done that. I was able to really print my emotion out of myself and onto paper to make it a tangible fashion piece.
KC: Well that definitely speaks to what you said earlier about seeing yourself as an artist because isn’t that what all art is? It’s emotion transformed into something you can see, feel or touch and in this case actually wear.
AZ: Yes I say one day when I’m not doing fashion, I would be a performance artist [laughs].
It’s no surprise that Anna is so familiar with terms like artist or even so aware of her emotions. In China, she was educated in the arts and her father is a successful artist himself in painting, sculpture and as of late, calligraphy. Being born in 1988, Anna tells me how there wasn’t a platform or exposition of fashion or graphic design so when she came to the Academy, she was shown what fashion is to the outside world and credits the school for inspiring her to love fashion.
KC: When did you move to San Francisco? Did you come straight to AAU from China?
AZ: Yes, so I was 24, and now I’m 34. Oh my God, yes okay [laughs].
KC: Do you have any instructors or mentors that inspired or guided you?
AZ: Of course. Gary! Yes, Gary. And we’ve even become friends now. He’s such a good person and I was so lucky that I had his design concept when I was in my sophomore year. The first year was more about illustration and drawing and sophomore year you are introduced to what fashion design is. And I had no skills. You have to have the skills and knowledge to do the process and I had none. Gary opened the design concepts class and it helped me to change my process and perspective on design. It’s helped me even since then.
KC: What was it that helped you so much?
AZ: Pretty much giving you a project every class. Say I take your face mask, then I would have to manipulate it and create a collection. Taking everyday objects and manipulating them. Gary is always very encouraging, inspiring and patient, patient, patient unless you don’t do homework, unless you’re late. [Laughs]. So that’s why I say I was lucky to have that class. My homework was always finished a week before and that way I got more feedback. I think he also listened to every student and understood their capability and who they are as a student.
Going off on a tangent about how both me and Anna are extremely competitive, I learned that she too is only competing with herself. I explained to her that during my time at the Academy of Art, I was always seeking to be the “best” or most “recognized” for my work. I think we both agree that visibility and being seen is just as important as any grade and that we’re both very, very happy with our experiences involving our instructors. After I turned off the recording, we continued our chat for another thirty minutes. This is where I know it was meant to be that we met in person. Exchanging experiences with mental health, relationships and sharing some of my work with Anna, I know it as kismet that we rescheduled our rendez-vous. In fact, I shared that with Anna and she agreed.
I asked Anna two more guilty pleasure questions to liven the mood after our unconventional therapy dive. First, I asked where she sees herself professionally in the next 5-10 years. She tells me that she wants to have a commercial brand and to turn her art into a more commercialized brand. I jokingly asked if we expect to see color and she answers with a laugh but ensures me that black will be the main attraction. Anna also hopes to be on the Met Ball red carpet and that led me to my second question: who would you want to wear your designs on the Met Ball carpet? Without hesitation, actually almost offended I even asked, Anna simply responds with, “Rihanna!” Duh, why’d I even ask?
