The ALIA
Volume I. Issue IX. Sept. 29, 2020.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the ninth issue of The ALIA, a weekly newsletter dedicated to the lives of Asian women in America, and beyond, where we bring you the latest news and insightful conversations with industry professionals. In this volume, we feature women in fashion, media and arts. Subscribe for free here.
Letter from the editor:
Hello! It’s so good to see you again, and a warm welcome to our new subscribers. Last week, we interviewed life coach and podcast host of Perfectly Imperfect, Christine Chen. This week, we are featuring her co-host, Regina Fang.
Regina traversed the creative industry with her multitude of experiences, including CBS, Wong Fu Productions and Krave Beauty, before co-founding Perfectly Imperfect and her slow-fashion line, At Last – with beautiful, simple everyday pieces and skirts with pockets (love!), it’s one to keep a close eye on.
We chat about everything Asian identity, inclusivity in the fashion industry and tips for navigating the pandemic with gratefulness.
P.S. It’s Mid-Autumn Festival this Thursday. Are you celebrating? Let me know!
I hope you enjoy!
Sincerely,
Annie Lin
Founder of The ALIA
If you could like to learn more about this project, please contact us at contact@alia.news
Asian Creatives
Clockwise from top left: @willamazing, @paudictado, @lapetitejamie, @vanessaa_li
Community News
Love in fruits • Our guest this week, Regina Fang, described displays of love and support from her parents “in the form of a plate of cut fruit.” This Asian custom has been explored by writers everywhere to dissect the meaning behind it. Connie Wang from Refinery29 writes, “Life is filled with bitter and hard things. When you extract pits, piths, and peels, fruit becomes an accessible and reliable source of pure sweetness, only softness.” Read: Refinery29
Tech threats • Chinese-owned platforms Tik Tok and WeChat have been under fire by the Trump administration’s ban that was stopped by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Sunday. The apps have been accused of being a “national security threat.” If they are referring to the addictive Tik Tok dances taking over our lives, it’s certainly a threat. Read: Reuters
Surprise, surprise • The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution denouncing anti-Asian sentiment related to COVID-19 in a 243-164 vote. All 164 nays were Republicans, leaving only 14 GOP members that voted for the resolution. Asian Americans on Twitter have been publicly calling out the members of Congress for voting against the resolution. Read: NBC News
Asian films • This year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival channeled the theme of breaking barriers, challenges and victories in their communities. The three winning short films by APA creators were “Si” by Thomas Percy Kim, Tiffany So’s “Fine China” and “Lonely Blue Night” from Johnson Cheng. Read: Variety
In Conversation with Regina Fang
This week, we’re joined by Regina Fang, 29, co-host of Perfectly Imperfect and founder of fashion label At Last. Fang shares her experience of leaving a corporate job to create a clothing line for the modern working woman. She has always felt a strong connection to her Asian identity as we discuss how Asian parents show their love through cut fruit.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Tell us about your career path and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in “The 626” area in Arcadia, California, where the large Asian population was like living in a bubble. When I went to college at Azusa Pacific University, a small private Christian college, it was a completely different experience. I originally chose it to study nursing because both my parents are in the medical field, and I tried to convince myself that it was something I wanted.
In my senior year of high school, I had started interning for Wong Fu Productions as their first-ever intern, which carried on into college. I stayed at Wong Fu for five years, and that was also when I met Christine Chen. Being seven years older, she was always like my older sister. She encouraged me to pursue a creative route. At the time, my plan was to study to be a physician assistant. I switched my major to psychology, and that was the perfect middle ground. After college, I chose to stay at my university for a master’s in business management, combining psychology and business. I think that was my first real step away from the medical field. I started becoming excited about the projects I was working on.
When I graduated, I moved to New York City without a job. I spent the first six months job hunting and ended up staying in the city for about five years. I landed a job at CBS as a talent coordinator for their podcast network, which was a great opportunity. I worked there for two years and moved on to a smaller media firm working on female empowerment, which I’ve always wanted to do. Unfortunately, it was a soul-sucking experience because I would have to look at influencers and judge whether they are pretty enough, have enough followers or could fit a certain campaign. So, I left that job. Then I worked at Krave Beauty by Liah Yoo, consulting on marketing and branding. I did that for a few months, and then I decided to move back to Los Angeles.
As a podcast host, what stories do you want to tell?
During my time at CBS, Christine and I started our podcast, Perfectly Imperfect. It’s been over three years since! It began as a passion project. I realized podcasts were an up and coming thing, and I was like, why don’t we try it? Our intention behind the podcast is to tell stories, connect with people, and make them feel less alone. Our guests are our friends and connections in the industry. I’m grateful for our time at Wong Fu to connect with incredible Asian creators and have these discussions. We love to dig deeper into what is beneath the surface level and have open conversations about fears and insecurities.
Our topics are inspired by what’s happening in our lives and around us. We want to tell the untold stories. Especially with Asian Americans – we’ve kept quiet, we didn’t speak up, we’ve been silently going through our battles. Having a podcast to talk openly about our Asian American experience, mental health and life lessons has created a community, and for that, we’re grateful.
What I love most about podcasts is that listeners are focused on what you have to say, rather than Youtube, where the attention is on looks, outfit, makeup and all of those things. I think you listen to podcasts because you’re interested in what an individual has to say, not the facade of who the individual is.
How did you start your slow-fashion line, At Last?
I have always loved fashion, but I never thought it could be for me because of my size and race. I never saw people who looked like me in fashion, and that is what drove me to create this clothing line. I started brainstorming ideas in November 2018. For almost two years now, it was planning, designing, working with production, social media. It’s still an ongoing process. I’m currently working on creating stronger branding.
Our philosophy, in general, is simplicity. I want to create pieces that are easy to incorporate in your closet, something you can wear time and time again. We produce small batches in limited styles. The direction for the future is keeping fewer styles and changing them up once in a while. The goal is to help women feel confident and embrace their bodies the way they are.
I have been working with my best friend’s mom, who has been consulting with local and overseas factories to bring my idea to life. When Asians start businesses, it’s almost like a family affair where the people you work with become your extended family. She’s good friends with the owners of a small family-owned factory here in El Monte, California, that produce the t-shirts for At Last. Other styles are produced in China by a factory that usually creates sample clothing for brands. Since I wanted small batches, they were able to do that for me. They have proven that they have good working conditions and are paying workers fair wages.
What are your thoughts on inclusivity in the fashion industry, especially for women?
There has always been a focus on petite women who are smaller than average size, but there hasn’t been a focus on women who are bigger than average. My waist is a size 10, but my hips are a size 12, so I can never buy pants or skirts that fit me, and I’m sick of it. When it comes to sizes, that’s where I would like to see the industry step up. With the pants we are releasing later this fall, it’s designed for curvier girls with a smaller waist with bigger hips and girls with a regular waist but smaller hips. I want to design clothes that fit women well, not clothes designed by men from what they think women want.
The main focus of menswear is comfort. Whereas women in ads are wearing super high heels, tight skirts and dresses that are not practical. Menswear has precise measurements for every part of their body. For women, it’s like small, medium, large, there you go. As of right now, At Last’s sizes are standard, but we’re looking to expand in the future. In an industry where women definitely play a bigger role, it’s appalling that fashion is so impractical for women.
There’s this idea of what a woman should be. As a working woman, it’s not practical wearing crop tops and ruffles all-day while working a nine to five at an office. We can wear that on the weekends, on a trip, there’s nothing wrong with it. But I want to bring more practicality into women’s fashion. If you feel cute and comfortable in what you wear, it brightens your mood for the rest of the day.
I think fashion now is focused on self-expression and the industry is working to be more inclusive. Sometimes, it feels like another box they’re trying to tick off. I remember taking a factory tour of a well-known brand that claims to be sustainable and body-positive, and thinking it’s all a marketing ploy. There are so many phobias in media and entertainment. You either have to be super thin or super curvy, anything in between, the media doesn’t care about you.
Do you feel connected to your Asian identity?
Being Asian American has and always will be a part of me because it is tied to my identity. I have immigrant parents who made the trek over from China. Their culture and stories are embedded in me. I can’t ignore that part of me and only consider myself American. As I get older, I feel more connected to my Asian identity. One way I do that is by asking my parents stories about their lives and why they decided to immigrate to America. The hardships they went through during the Cultural Revolution, working in the countryside, working in factories, then being able to go to medical school and giving it all up to come to America to start all over again. Those are not my experiences, but they are part of my story.
As an Asian American woman, there are two sides of me constantly at war with each other. In Asian culture, you’re taught to follow social order and not get into trouble to upset people. In American culture, you have to ask for what you want. You need to be a go-getter and make opportunities for yourself. A part of it is unlearning what you were taught as kids, and learning to interpret our parents’ expectations in a non-offensive way. At the end of the day, they want what’s best for us. Even though they might not fully understand it, they are excited. Whenever I’m wearing clothes from At Last, my mom is always like, you look so cute today, and she’s always sending my Tik Toks to family relatives. I know she is supportive. Sometimes, they don’t know how to express their love, and it comes in the form of a plate of cut fruit.
My parents always told me working in the medical field helps people. Yes, it helps people physically. But there are many other ways to help people. By creating a podcast like Perfectly Imperfect, where we talk about mental health and growing up Asian, we are also helping people, just in a different way. As I continue my career, helping people is still at the core of what I want to do.
From one creative to another, what advice do you have for coping during the pandemic?
I’m not going to lie, it’s been an ongoing battle. One thing that has kept me inspired is seeing other Asian American women killing it in the industry. I was super inspired by reading your newsletter. I think pushing yourself to try new things during this pandemic is really important. When it comes down to it, I think the pandemic has taught me that nothing matters except for your friends and family. My friend suggested writing a reverse bucket list where you write down the things you have accomplished, rather than all the things you want to achieve. Once you have that mentality of being grateful, it gives you the confidence to move forward with other things.
Be easy on yourself. Being creative in general, we’re all perfectionists in some way. We tend to feel like it’s still not good enough. Try to remove yourself from those ideas and, instead, learn from your mistakes and go for it. When I started At Last, I postponed the launch for so long because I was afraid nobody would care, nobody would buy it and what if it’s all for nothing? Those are real fears we have as entrepreneurs. I think it’s not about how many people show up, but it’s about resonating with people. Growth will come naturally as long as you’re consistent. Consistency is key.
Photographer: Joyce Chen
Asian-owned Brands
Weekly Thoughts
Last week: What is your favorite Asian cultural celebration and why?
Your responses:
“Chinese New Year! I don’t know if it’s because I grew up celebrating it in Malaysia but it’s so great. I love it because of the lion dances, food, red packets, music and all the colors!” — Ludwig Schindler, Breda, Netherlands
“I love Mid-Autumn Festival because of the lanterns, spirituality with the moon and of course, mooncakes!” – Sherine Abraham, Melbourne, Australia
This week: What is your favorite Asian food?
#ALIAtalks and tag us @alia.news to join the conversation and we will feature the best submissions in next week’s newsletter. For email submissions, please email contact@alia.news
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