Writing by Avantelier, Photo｜proofreading by fuuka team
“These pieces are more than commercial pieces.” This was the first thought when we saw her design in the independent fashion designer market in Taiwan. Through her embroidery accessories, we kind of receive the cultural meaning behind them. She is not only a commercial accessories designer but also a facilitator of cultural heritage.
Unfortunately internet or tech issues, we only could do this interview by calling instead of a video meeting.
Note: Avantelier=A, CHEN HSIN TZU=C
A: Thanks for accepting this interview. We are very honoured to speak again with you through this “International Women’s Day, #Aの38” project.
C: Thank you too for having me on this project.
A: Could you please give us a brief about yourself?
C: My name is CHEN HSIN TZU, an embroidery lover. Somehow I feel it is difficult to define myself as a designer or an artist. maybe both, maybe neither.
A: Your brand’s name is quite interesting, what did the idea come from?
C: The idea of fuuka is from Japanese pronunciation. I like the vibe of the flower lightly flying in the face of an east wind. And most of my embroidery pieces have spacing between each embroidery thread. My creation has quite a similar vibe to the petals while the wind goes through, light and sway.
A: We all know being a young creator is not easy, could you please share what are the biggest challenges for you during your running Fuuka? How did you solve the issues?
C: fuuka has been running for some years, it is getting the silhouette I imagined. In my opinion, working hard and thinking about the creation process again and again to find a better approach is my solution. About the challenges, I’d like to go back to your previous question about defining myself. For me, identity as a designer means commercial. Nowadays, I create embroidery accessories for selling for a living. They keep me away from starving. Thus, I work as an embroidery accessories designer for a living. But somehow I feel I behave slightly like an artist. For example, the inspiration for my creation. It would be light and shadow, something illusory.
C: Also, the decoration for the pop-up store was like a cosy gallery space. I do care if the vibe of the space is built up following my brand’s ethos, not only showcasing the pieces. Simply speaking, I care more about the special vibe than my pieces. I have the ambition and desire to explore more and reach out to areas I’m not familiar with. This year, I’m working on an extra project. It is creating lifestyle items, such as lampshades.
The day you visited the pop-up store, you saw the huge embroidery piece. Its intention was created for a lampshade. Unfortunately, it was not successful in the shape it was supposed to be. But I did my best to re-decorate it and gave it a different mission. So, finding myself and expanding my ability are my biggest challenges. Also, the biggest challenge can relate to tiny considerations, such as maintaining the weight of pierced earrings, but replacing them with a clip-on. How to make embroidery thread harder for easier creation. Cleverly using white colour and so on. Through each concern, it develops a completely different world. But it seems relative to each other if it makes sense to you.
Because of the time difference between Taiwan and the UK, our conversation was closer to the end, along with the sunrise in London.
We still are interested in her creation, the new one and the previous piece, and the relationship with Taiwanese culture, as well as, her sustainable approach We will be keeping up on her latest news and sharing them on Avantelier.
