Hailing from downtown New York, Sandy Liang is every it-girl’s new go-to designer – welcoming us into her girlhood dreams.
After taking inspiration from grandmothers in Chinatown, Liang’s 2014 brand debut includes a line of fleece jackets. Liang’s friends and her grandmother appear as her models throughout the campaign, posing along the streets of Chinatown.
In an interview with Style, Liang says, “the way I design everything is super personal. I’m always referencing my life. It seemed natural to me to ask my grandmother. Chinatown grandmothers were actually my first inspiration.”
She retells the story of how she fell in love with fashion. “It had a lot to do with my childhood. When I was growing up, my mum never let me spend money on clothes. Buying clothes was a shameful thing for me. I was never allowed to buy clothes at full price. Because of that, I think I’ve always looked at clothes as this really unattainable, magical thing,” she says.
Growing Designs
In 2019, her fleece jacket went viral. Gaining praise from both the New York Times and GQ Magazine.
As Liang’s brand has grown, her designs have grown with her.
Her recent designs seen in her Fall Winter and Spring Summer 2023 collection take on coquette and girly silhouettes. Puffy sleeves, feminine neck lines, sheer fabrics. And of course you can’t forget her main symbols of bows, flowers, and hearts shining through each piece.
Liang’s appeal comes from the nostalgia of girlhood. Her designs are reminiscent of playing dress-up as a child, roleplaying as a princess, or even the simple delight of tying a pink ribbon in your hair.
In an interview with Harper’s BAZAAR, Liang says, “everyone always tells me, ‘That reminds me of my childhood,’ and I have to say, ‘That’s literally the point!'”
“I’m just a girl designing for a girl.”
She has gained a cult following, her fans being dubbed as “Sandy Liang girls.”
Her die hard “girls” share their love for Liang’s designs through social media platforms, showing others how to dress like a “Sandy Liang girl.”
In a space that is dominated by Eurocentric designers, Liang is taking the New York fashion scene by storm.
By incorporating her Chinese-American upbringing with her native New Yorker roots into her designs, she brings a refreshing look on dainty and feminine designs.
Getting coverage from both Vogue and Elle, Liang sells in more than 50 stores worldwide including Nordstrom and Saks.
Shop her looks here to live out your girlhood dreams and become a Sandy Liang Girl!
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