Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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84 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM presentation, Wu says, "I wanted it to feel like a bunch of chic, sophisticated strangers walking on the street." Wu, of course, lost any speck of anonymity when Michelle Obama wore a gown of his making to the inaugural ball in 2009: The one-shoulder draped white chiffon dress made national news and brought a fl urry of attention to the de- signer, who was just 27 years old at the time. "The dress had thousands of little fl owers," says Wu. "We were literally touching up the dress at the last moment!" (In 2013, he made a second inaugural gown, in striking red velvet and chiffon). While Wu had the spotlight thrust upon him early in his career, he was ready for it. His fi rst collection, which focused on intricately constructed dresses, was picked up by Saks Fifth Avenue; shortly afterward, his pieces landed in Berg- dorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and infl uential boutiques like the original Louis Boston. The hoopla surrounding Wu is how he's able to make couture- inspired pieces with an uncomplicated elegance. He favors clean lines and clas- sic shapes injected with bright shots of color and graphic patterns, an aesthetic that set him apart early on. "At the time, young designers were doing things that were much 'cooler.' I was the ladylike one," says Wu. "I was making clothes that were very sophisticated and had a distinctive feminine fl air but with an Ameri- can sportswear point-of-view." In 2008, a year after his debut, Wu was a fi nalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award, and he's picked up many accolades since, including the Swarovski Award for Wo- menswear in 2010 and the Fashion Star Award at the 2015 Fashion Group International Night of Stars. This year he was named the 2016 In- ternational Designer of the Year at the Canadi- an Arts & Fashion Awards. Not that he spends much time refl ecting on his success. "The problem is, I'm insatiable," he says. "When- ever I reach a goal, I want the next one." AS A KID GROWING UP IN TAIWAN, Wu quickly realized his artistic ambitions. "When my mom would take me shopping, I always came home and drew what I saw," he says. "It was clear very early on that I was going to go into some kind of creative field." When he was six years old, Wu fell in love with sculpting and his mother enrolled him at a local art studio—setting in motion his talent for shap- ing and molding fabrics to various forms. The family later relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, where Wu learned to sew in elementary school, using dolls as his mannequins. "I didn't have a lot of fabric, but it was practice," he says. Wu soon parlayed his knack for perfecting the tiniest of details into a design gig. At 16, he called Integrity Toys, a Maryland-based doll manufacturer, with a business idea. "I was like, 'Why don't you translate current fashion onto dolls and make them more of a fashion thing?'" Wu says. He was hired to do just that, and his creations ended up in stores like Manhattan's ultra-famous (though now defunct) FAO Schwarz. At the time, Wu was still in school, having attended Eaglebrook, in Deerfi eld, Massachusetts, and later Loomis Chaffey, in Windsor, Connecticut. Not that he developed an ego or considered his positon a sign of bigger things to come. "I think I just really wanted to work," says Wu simply. After graduating, Wu moved to New York City in 2001 to study fashion at Par- sons. In 2004, he interned with Narcisco Rodriguez. It was there that he learned the full spectrum of what it takes to run a label. "In school, it's kind of one-di- mensional, with projects on paper. But when you start interning, you really see that to run a fashion business it takes so much more," he says. Undaunted, Wu left school in his fourth year to launch his own line, using the funds saved up from his doll de- sign days. As he put it, "I was ready to get my hands dirty." Wu certainly has his hands full now, head- ing up not one but three labels. In 2013, he was appointed the artistic director of Hugo Boss women's ready-to-wear and accessories, and this summer he launched Grey, a sister line to Jason Wu. "Grey is much more casual, and centered around an everyday lifestyle," he explains. The mix of separates—relaxed shirt dresses, knit pullover sweaters, cropped fl are trousers—are playful yet refi ned. There's also a bit of quirky charm courtesy of the bunny prints designed by New York City art- ist Hunt Slonem: Each season, Wu plans to team up with a different artist, which is all part of expanding his stylish orbit—and his circle of friends to get inspired by. As Wu says, "That's what makes the world go around for us." . A vintage sewing machine from the 1930s Wu received as a gift from his parents when he was nine years old, and which now holds pride of place in his studio. FROM LEFT: "A lot of these people have kind of been my guardian angels," says Wu of the tastemaker editors, actresses, and models (as seen here, backstage at his Fall 2016 fashion show in New York) he counts as close friends; the signature Diane bag from the Fall 2016 collection; a sketch that inspired a Fall 2016 dress. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF JASON WU (BACKSTAGE AND SKETCH). FIRST PAGE AND OPPOSITE PAGE: GROOMING BY MIGUEL LLEDO AT ARTLIST USING DIOR HOMME