INFO
| Name | Wilbur Hsu (he/him) |
| Born | 1995 |
| Country of Birth | Aotearoa |
| Place of Residence | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Ethnicities | Taiwanese |
| Artform | Design, Jewellery, Fashion, Craft/Object |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Wilbur Hsu 徐鴻恩 is a fashion designer and artist of Taiwanese descent.
Born and raised in Kirikiriroa Hamilton, his parents owned a kebab shop in Thames in the early 2000s. He developed an interest in fashion from a young age, and although he originally studied business at university, he gave this up to pursue Fashion Design at AUT, graduating in 2017.
His graduation collection, To.., derives its name from the way his mother typically starts a letter, by writing the colon lying down. The paper-like fabric of this collection was adorned with digitally printed photos of Hsu’s parents in their youth, capturing moments before wedding shoots or posing on a ship, pleated and scrunched carefully. He describes his work as “poetic communication”, memories folded into each piece like writing a letter to the past. Hsu often talks about how memory is the happy middle place between past and present, and how a tangible piece of fashion is the vessel of such sentiment.
Hsu constantly expands his language in fashion. His jewellery collection 九 JIÛ [9], consists of nine charms cast from his childhood bracelets. Each charm has a different meaning and wish for a newborn baby: the dragon charm for strength and protection, the clam Shell Earring for patience and growth, and the kaleidoscope for perspective. By recreating precious items from the past, a new memory is “designed to be cherished” in the present.
Hsu is currently based in Tāmaki Makaurau and works at The Keep.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2022 — 九 JIÛ [9], Tāmaki Makaurau
2020 — Sleep: a succession of memories, Public Record, Tāmaki Makaurau
2017 — To.., AUT Rookie, Tāmaki Makaurau
