WINNER
2006RICHARD CHAI
Richard Chai is also called ‘ready to be a genius’, since he started attending lectures in Parsons School of Design when he was 14 years old and received specialized design education for the gifted. After graduating from Parsons, he went over to Paris and set the cornerstone to become a world famous designer, while attending Lissa School and working as a Lanvin sketcher.
When he returned to New York, he started pursuing a career on a full scale and worked for Armani Exchange, DKNY and D collection. From 1998, Chai dedicated four years to Marc Jacobs, directing both men’s and women’s lines, as well as launching Marc by Marc Jacobs for men. In September 2001, Chai joined TSE, and became the first ever creative director to manage the complete line in including TSE men’s, TSE women’s and TSE Say. Through these experiences Chai has built a foundation of knowledge crucial to launching his own collection and after two years working at TSE, Chai decided he was ready to found his own company, which was established in the summer of 2004. It was in the fall of 2004 when he debuted his 2005 S/S collection of women’s wear in New York Fashion Week. In 2005, he was awarded from Ecco Domani Prestigious Fashion Foundation for his genius ability, and his brand recently entered Avenuel luxury select shop in Seoul, attracting very favorable attention in Korea.
Richard Chai's style is strongly inspired by New York City and can be characterized as modern and sophisticated, yet elegantly understated. His creations represent an architectural and minimal aesthetic with a respect to truly old world techniques such as hand pick stitching, bias tape, and French seams. He considers the woman's body the focal point and emphasizes it through the use of seams, tailoring and the manipulation of fabric. His use of color is quite painterly. Subtle and muted, yet always contrasted by bold, strong colors giving a fresh, feminine look.
