The weather on the day of the interview was very hot, but as soon as I walked into the exhibition room of the Crystal Apricot decoration spring and summer demure series, I instantly felt relaxed and bright, and the driving force behind it was Taiwanese designer Wang Tong (Crystal), who had a wealth of fashion experience, and chose to return to Taiwan from overseas to start a business at the age of 27, injecting her retro and romantic old soul into the brand, this lace dress, checkered top, for Wang Tong is a "most girlish dream".
▲ Wang Tong went to New York to study at parsons school of design in college and has a high sensitivity to fashion.
Wang Tong went to New York to study at parsons school of design in college, has a high sensitivity to fashion, and accumulated experience in the New York department of Armani Group, "In New York, there is a balance between work and life, and taiwan work is more standardized." Wang Tong thus planted the seeds of a new venture, because she especially likes old things with a sense of age, and then found that there are few high-quality Japanese retro clothing in the Taiwan market, "when the trend is moving towards retro style, this demand exists." Last year (2021), she founded her personal brand Crystal Apricot in Taiwan, the brand style is very niche in Taiwan, through the floral, chiffon material to create a sense of dream, giving girls their own girlhood.
▲ Wang Tong looked for inspiration for the Spring Summer 2022 collection from the exhibition.
In fact, seeing the designer himself can know the tone of the brand, Wang Tong is the best spokesperson for Crystal Apricot, when she visited, she wore the brand's satin nude dress, gently introduced the inspiration of this season, "In 2019, I watched the exhibition "The Art History of Beautiful Girls", which is a narrative space intertwined with Japanese painting, manga and new media art, capturing the sincere face of girls' generation, and found that the exhibition is very close to my brand tone." This season's lace sleeved tops, cloud-like white, deep black, and rose ribbons and cutouts at the waist, perfect all the imaginations of spring and summer.
▲Crystal Apricot has a strong Japanese retro style, which is very rare in the Taiwan market.
"I really like the Japanese-European dresses of the 1980s during the heyday of Mori Akira cuisine, with plaid round skirts, rolled sleeves, and elements of time progression. I also collect Li Huozeng's photographic collection to analyze and flip through the style of Japanese japanese style in Taiwan, and some ancient photo clubs on Facebook, ancient clothing stores, etc. are also sources of inspiration for me." She said that because of her life in New York at that time, she realized that dressing is actually without a framework, and girls of any age have the right to pursue cuteness, "I will also take into account the needs of dressers when designing, for example, one color of the same style, the other will be plain, which can increase the acceptance of the brand by guests."
Not denying the difficulties from starting a business to becoming a manager, Wang Tong frankly said: "Creating during the student period is simple, and now it is necessary to balance the design and market demand, which is also a new process for themselves, just like the brand, just like the more mature stage after girls enter the society."
▲Crystal Apricot clothing takes actual wear as the starting point.
Some guests once said to her that they did not try The Taiwanese designer brand very much, worried about the bias towards the "show" and did not wear it, but after trying Crystal Apricot, they found that there was no problem, such an evaluation made Wang Tong full of confidence, thinking that the brand was originally hoped to let guests who had not been in contact with it also try. In the future, it is also planned to let Crystal Apricot launch a joint name and appear in the public eye with a gorgeous and romantic posture.
Designer Wang Tong Small Profile:
▲Crystal Apricot is the director of Taiwanese designer Wang Tong.