Chenye Zhang

 I worked with Vakko New York as a freelance designer for a four month leather design project. It was heavily involved  use Illustrator sketch flats and design art works for leather cut-outs.

I was with Danny and Nicole for over 4 years as an associate designer. I was never afraid to take on multiple design tasks from soft woven, cut and sew knits, fully-fashioned knitwear, to print design. With all the hands on design experience I was able to continuously challenge myself with the result of building a great amount of knowledge and skills.  Cut and Sew Designs Knitwear Design Print Design Implementing buyer's requests with the use of Photoshop to create virtual samples by creating 3D bodies for use with different prints to provide a wider choice, without actually making physical samples.

I was associate designer with Alex Evenings; where I would take directions from the design director, and independently implement the designer’s advises to developing our products. I worked on our product development throughout the entire process, from sketching and fabric sourcing, to working with pattern makers, cutters and sewers, until we had completed samples.

I have five months design intern experience in Marchesa. Some of my responsibilities with Marchesa were to design and illustrate embroidery and prints, and illustrate their designs for the look board. I also worked on their 2013 fall collection and helped with their February 2013 New York Fashion Show.  

Fall / Winter collection For this line I took my inspiration from a Japanese sculptor named Katsuyo Aoki, for one of my collections. Aoki uses porcelain to create a series of skull shaped works. The silhouette is inspired by forty’s Hollywood star’s look. In this collection I used silk jacquard, velvet, stingray skin, lace and knitting as the martial I combine with bedding. I researched vantage clothing. I also found some vantage Indian material as reference. I choose off white, black, and navy blue as my colors, as they are simple, and elegant. The result turned out delicate, expensive, and sophisticated, and fit my inspiration well. Fabric: Designs: Samples:

Spring / Summer Collection My inspiration for this project was Aquatic organisms. I was inspired by the texture of floating grass and texture and color of coral. Knit swatches, I used fabric paint to paint the swatches, I then pulled the yarns, and re-knitted the swatches. Knitwear design: