MODA Designer Profile: Christine Pang

May 17

May 17 MODA Designer Profile: Christine Pang

I had the pleasure of interviewing Christine Pang, a second year in the college majoring in Economics and Psychology, on her design and style influences approaching the 2021 MODA Fashion Show.

Hi Christine! What compelled you to be a designer for the show this year, especially since it’s remote?

I really wanted to apply last year, but I didn’t out of self-doubt. After seeing the creations that came from last year’s designers, I really regretted that. This school year has obviously been really different, but I chose to do MODA as a way to submerge myself into some form of school community, even if we don’t get to meet in person. I think my style and aesthetics have developed a lot since first year, and I wanted to be able to reflect that through designing clothes, which has been a hobby of mine since I was young. I love working on big creative projects as both a way to have fun as well as self-soothe, so it’s still been a great experience to work towards a higher vision throughout this year.

During quarantine (over the summer, at home), I found that my style changed a lot, perhaps as a result of being isolated from social scenes for so long. Did you have a renaissance (or whatever you want to call it) of style while in isolation and have you considered why?

I think I definitely branched out in terms of style, but in a different way since I wasn’t buying lots of clothes and accessories in the earlier parts of quarantine. It’s been a transformative process because fashion and self-expression have become something that you do for yourself these days; a lot of the rituals we had with getting ready and dressing up to see people and be in public have fallen away.

In some ways, I’ve toned down my style a lot partially due to effort, but also just due to a general introversion that I’ve really embraced throughout quarantine. When I do choose to really dress up however, it’s totally different and way more over the top than before, often incorporating elements of fantasy, over-accessorization, and exaggerated silhouettes. I think I regulate my self-perception and expression by going into these highs and lows of style.

Do you think you have a well-defined and streamlined “aesthetic”? Or taste in aesthetics? Or is it more fluid and drastically expansive?

I’d say I have a pretty streamlined aesthetic. While I can appreciate and indulge in all kinds of styles, I always find myself coming back to whimsical, airy, colorful, and sparkly aesthetics. They bring me immense joy. I also love vintage fashion and decor because they have a certain charm and attention to craftsmanship that has become more and more rare in modern industries that are increasingly centered around fast production and disposability. A lot of these aesthetics have an association with being juvenile or tacky, but I think that’s precisely what makes them really beautiful and captivating. While my aesthetics change and evolve over time, I think always incorporate these elements.