INFO
| Name | Cecilia Kang (she/her) |
| Born | 1987 |
| Country of Birth | South Korea |
| Place of Residence | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Ethnicities | Korean |
| Artform | Fashion |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Cecilia Kang is a self-taught couture designer whose dramatic, intricate and elegant handmade work is inspired by the LGBTQIA+ community, drag queens, “the colour and vibrancy of K-pop” and the natural environment of Aotearoa.
Born in Seoul, Kang was sent to learn English in Aotearoa at age 10, moving in with her aunt and uncle on the North Shore, with her family joining her two years later. She initially loved the relative educational freedom — “I just noticed that everyone was enjoying life… running around the field all day!” — but hated her years at Westlake Boys High School. “I was bullied a lot in high school, just for being different from a lot of people. I was struggling with my sexual identity. And then [on top of that] people were being racist because I was Asian too.”
Kang’s interest in fashion started in the pageant scene, where she designed garments for Miss Asia Pacific International and Miss Universe New Zealand. Largely self-taught — Kang studied linguistics at the University of Auckland and went on to study te reo Māori — her debut show as part of New Zealand Fashion Week in 2018 represented the first time a trans designer had been invited to show. Her collection that year, the texturally rich Goddess in Garlands, was inspired by the natural world and conjured lush forests in feathery and glittering detail.
In 2019, Kang criticised NZ Fashion Week after it spelt both her first and last name wrong as ‘Cecelia Chang’. Speaking to the NZ Herald, she said:
I feel the organisers could have done better especially when they're promoting this year's event as being focused on diversity and inclusion… I was hoping that NZ Fashion Week will be where I can drive my brand awareness and promote who I am and my designs, but it has been a devastating start.
Her collection that year, the opulent Galaxy Extravaganza (2019), was inspired by “different forms of shape in nature and of non-solids like gas - everything that surrounds us” and featured “clusters of handstitched details surrounded by swathes of billowing, diaphanous fabrics” while her 2021 collection, Ani-Nature collided animal prints with forms in nature like flowers and gas. Her dramatic Victorian-inspired 2023 collection featuring tulle, feathers, mesh and sequins was described by Remix magazine as “a runway that won’t be forgotten”.
She has spoken about the need for the fashion industry to be better at sustainability and describes herself as a zero-waste designer:
I work to use every piece of fabric whether it’s a leftover or remnant to create something beautiful as part of the design. I think it’s significantly important that the designers take awareness and take responsibility for the waste which has become one of the most persistent problems in the fashion industry and for our environment around Aotearoa.
