The annual fashion extravaganza Taipei Fashion Week is back in action. The upcoming shows will be showcasing 2025 Spring and Summer collections of Taiwan’s top designers. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke to the founder of Taiwan’s first zero-waste fashion brand, Kuan Chen to find out more about her new collection and her future goals for her brand.

Models strut down the catwalk. This collection is designed by Taiwanese designer Kuan Chen, who founded the first zero-waste fashion brand in Taiwan.

Kuan Chen
Brand founder
So that is my wish that in the future there is no waste for me to do my brand. For 2023, we upcycled around 10,000 denims. We’ve given the production house, which is the NGO groups, around NT$2 million of the production fees.

Chen utilized recycled denim waste and other decomposable materials to create her designs. For this year’s fashion show, the brand presented a collection called “One,” describing the difficult and adventurous process of starting a business, as well as connections between people and Taiwan’s unique mountains, seas, and city skylines.

Kuan Chen
Brand founder
This collection is about couture collection. Every piece of design is unique and you cannot mass produce. We used upcycled denim to make every piece of our collection. Also, we combined with a 30-year-old tuxedo company using stock fabric made from tuxedo. We make into our brand new collection.

Chen is determined to make the clothing industry greener. For years now, she’s been working with NGO groups and mothers whose children have cerebral palsy to serve as seamstresses.

Kuan Chen
Brand founder
Half of our production houses are coming from NGO groups. They are women in need locals in Taiwan and also cerebral palsy children and their families. Mothers will usually make our garments and bags and also at the same time they take care of their kids. The kids now are becoming teenagers now. Most of them are 22 and 23. So nowadays, we train them to becoming a zero waste ambassadors. They are now representing zero-waste fashion and teaching people about why sustainable fashion is so important.

The textile and fashion industry is the second-largest source of pollution in the world. To raise awareness of this issue, Chen also invited renowned Taiwanese video director Shaudi Wang to serve as the fashion show director and direct a short play.

Shaudi Wang
Film director
I think different industries should cooperate more, so this time we also invited actors. The main purpose of our participation is to let everyone learn more about Kuan. She has been cooperating with the Cerebral Palsy Association and has been of great help to them. I want people to know about her cooperation with mothers of children with cerebral palsy and that there are actually many young people like Kuan in Taiwan that are using their creativity to care about the environment and different groups in society.

Kuan Chen
Brand founder
Shaudi Wang, we all know she is a revolutionary person. For her, she fights for a lot of faith. We really want to work with her and use her talents to tell people that every single life matters.

Chen’s goal is to continue educating people about zero waste fashion, and to eradicate denim waste in 10 years.

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