“JIA BUNG!”
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT, STYLING, PRESS RELEASE
Another season rolls around, bringing no less uncertainty to a global landscape fraught with mistrust, anxiety, and fatigue. The lack of consistent COVID regulation between regions, especially between nations, has made international travel dicey and left many of us with little choice but to daydream. What would we be doing in an alternate timeline—in a world without quarantine, masks, vaccine cards? For Brian Tu and Wesley Tsai, the answer was, without a doubt, travel in search of food, in pursuit of the tastes of a home bigger than provincial Alhambra.
Tu and Tsai have long been gourmands, eating anything and everything, and cooking to the horizon of their curiosities. Food, beyond pleasure and exploration, has historically symbolized community, compassion, and even something as grand as love, which among their immigrant families is a concept hardly ever verbalized. A bowl of congee when sick…fresh squeezed orange juice when parched…bites of lychee jelly straight from the local 99 Ranch Market…Tu and Tsai indulged in their childhood memories, trading and connecting stories of simpler times. For Tu, Sunday ritual was going to dim sum and breaking open the flaky, BBQ pork-filled caa siu sou. As for Tsai, it was customary to have packets of hard guava candy or chewy Haw flakes to hand out amongst those in good standing with him.
When it came time to brainstorm about what the spring-summer concept could look like, the answer presented itself like an unwrapped lotus leaf, sticky rice unveiled in all its glory. Tu and Tsai have built a collection that reaches back into the roots of the kitchen and pulls chef collars and work uniforms into the contemporary light. Dumpling-style pleats adorn the chests of jackets done in herringbone twill, rugged sashiko, and diaphanous organza alike. A watercolor print of fishes tangled in seaweed beds peeks out at the hems of balloon shorts, while also saturating the body of a transparent work jacket and a buttery silk button-up. Japanese gyotaku prints of sculpin (fished by none other than Tsai himself) are splashed across suit lapels and ankles, while the fruit foil to all this marine life manifests as dragon fruit red, seen in wool selves, linings, and a striking pair of organza trousers. The highlight of the collection is a collaged print of Chinese snacks, beverages, and seasonings—a literal feast for the eyes worked into a filled blazer and a puffed chef’s vest.
For the spring-summer 2023 season, Steele + Edith professes their longing for the “salad days,” offering a presentation that, in multiple ways, nourishes the younger self. Jia ba buay?
