Minnesota Now with Nina Moini

Lunar New Year fashion show to highlight local Asian American artists, designers

A fashion show photo shoot
Models and designers for "The Serpent's Charm" fashion show gather for a photo shoot.
Nectaree Thao

Wednesday marked the beginning of Lunar New Year, kicking off a month of celebrations across the globe. To celebrate the Year of the Snake, a group of Minnesota designers and artists is hosting a fashion show and photography exhibit.

The show, called “The Serpent’s Charm,” is Friday night at The Luminare in Minneapolis.

Show director Vivian Tran and fashion designer Jaylee Rosand joined Minnesota Now to talk about the upcoming show and photography exhibit.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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Audio transcript

NINA MOINI: Well, we are officially in the Year of the Snake. Yesterday was the Lunar New Year, but it kicks off a month of celebrations across the world. Here in Minnesota, a group of designers and artists are honoring the Year of the Snake with a fashion show and photography exhibit. The show, called The Serpent's Charm, is tomorrow night in Minneapolis. Joining us in the studio is Vivian Tran, the director of the show. Welcome, Vivian.

VIVIAN TRAN: Hello. Hi.

NINA MOINI: Oh, hi. And also joining us is Jaylee Rosand, a fashion designer that's part of the show. Thank you for being here, Jaylee, as well.

JAYLEE ROSAND: Hi. [CHUCKLES]

NINA MOINI: Well, this is very exciting. I want to know about where the idea for all of this collaboration came from, Vivian.

VIVIAN TRAN: Yeah, so I was invited by Xia Gallery and Cafe. So they support a lot of Asian or AAPI artists in the community. And so they asked me to do a photography exhibition for Lunar New Year. And I was thinking like, I always work with a lot of artists, like models, hair and makeup artists, and even other designers as well.

And so we were thinking-- I talked to my current co-producer, co-host, Aeola Lu, and we were like, what better way to highlight all of these people than a fashion show? And so that's kind of how it came to be like a two-part, volunteer passion project. So yeah. [CHUCKLES]

NINA MOINI: OK, cool. And then so, Jaylee, how did you get involved?

JAYLEE ROSAND: Yeah, I'm a third-year design student at the university, and I was invited to apply to this. And I'm just so excited to showcase my design work at the show.

NINA MOINI: At U of M or where?

JAYLEE ROSAND: Oh, no, at the show.

NINA MOINI: Oh, at the University of where, though, do you go?

JAYLEE ROSAND: Oh, at the University of Minnesota.

NINA MOINI: OK, cool. Cool. So, Vivian, how important is it to both share this within your culture and also with people who don't know much about the Lunar New Year and what it all means?

VIVIAN TRAN: I would say it is really important to celebrate this because Lunar New Year itself is something that everyone, in a sense, can celebrate because it's the new year, right? So it's like a year of renewal and a year of just, like, you want to wish everyone good fortune and luck. And it's definitely a very important holiday for not only, for example, just one specific country, like, for example, China, but also a lot of different cultures or ethnicities also celebrate Lunar New Year as well.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely, millions and millions of people around the world. Can you tell me a little bit, Vivian-- and then I'll ask you, too, Jaylee-- about specifically the Year of the Snake and then the name, The Serpent's Charm and what all that means to you?

VIVIAN TRAN: Yeah, so the Year of the Snake, it really means renewal, resilience, transformation. These are aspects of what a snake symbolizes. And what's really interesting is this year is actually the year of the wooden snake. Because every year, there's a certain element that's attached to the zodiac animal. And so the wooden part of the snake symbolizes growth and as well as development. And-- I forgot your last question. [LAUGHS]

NINA MOINI: That's OK. No, no, I'll kick it over to you, Jaylee. How did the snake or The Serpent's Charm, how did that inspire your work for this?

JAYLEE ROSAND: Yeah, for sure. I really took it in a little bit of a different direction. I'm Korean, and I wanted to make a collection that was largely inspired by traditional hanbok garments, but in a way, renew them and make them a little bit more contemporary and with styles that people see today.

NINA MOINI: Cool. Vivian, what did it feel like to have so many people who maybe identify as AAPI or they celebrate Lunar New year, all of these creative people in one space?

VIVIAN TRAN: Honestly, it's kind of crazy because I remember one of our big shoots that we did for the exhibition. It was just kind of like, wow, it's so crazy to be in a space where literally almost everyone identifies as being Asian, or most of most of our people are women as well, too.

And there's something about being in a space like that. It's not common that-- usually, if I'm at a shoot or something, it's not common that everyone has a similar identity like that. And honestly, it almost feels, like, very homey. There's something about it that really is heartwarming.

And I remember at some point, I was looking at literally one of my closest friends, Amy Diep. She's also helping me with the creative direction with the exhibition. And we just looked at each other, and I felt like I was going to tear up. I was like, oh, my god, I think I'm going to cry. This is amazing.

NINA MOINI: [CHUCKLES] That's beautiful. Jaylee, what about you? What has this whole experience felt like for you?

JAYLEE ROSAND: This whole experience has just been so overwhelmingly positive for me. I feel like when we're all together, you can really tell that it's just really like a passion project for all of us and that we're all coming together to make something beautiful and to all individually celebrate what Lunar New Year means to us.

NINA MOINI: Sure. And so I'll pose this to both of you as well. I'll start with you, Jaylee. What do you hope that people to come to the exhibit, the fashion show, the photography, what do you hope people gain from it or take away from it?

JAYLEE ROSAND: I think for me, I just hope that my work inspires people. I really want it to be something that other Korean people can look at and be like, oh, wow, this is definitely a collection of Korean-inspired garments and look at those different motifs I've used to produce my collection and feel a sense of, as Vivian was saying, being at home.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. What do you hope, Vivian, people could take away from this?

VIVIAN TRAN: I really hope that people take away the creative energy that has been put in by literally everyone. We have over, like, 50 people working on this project.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

VIVIAN TRAN: And it's really amazing to see how many people can create something so cool. And I hope that they remember the experience, and it's like something that they just can't forget, so.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, tell us about what will people experience when they come in, because where is it at? Give us the details of where and when.

VIVIAN TRAN: Yeah, it'll be located at the Luminaire in Minneapolis. The event is from 6:00 to 9:00. The doors open at 6:00, and then our show starts around 7:00. And when you get there, you'll also see that we have some local vendors in the lounge space. And so it'll be a lot of artists who also identify as AAPI. So we have some who will be sharing some clothing that they've made or accessories or maybe even art.

And then for the show, we'll have some lion dance performances. And then we'll just have the show do its thing. It's going to be amazing. And after, you get to do a little meet-and-greet with all the designers.

NINA MOINI: Amazing. And Jaylee, do you have a favorite photo or something that you really want people to keep an eye out for?

JAYLEE ROSAND: Not necessarily. I actually have not seen a lot of the official photos that we've been taking together yet.

NINA MOINI: Cool.

JAYLEE ROSAND: But we were just reviewing some of our backstage shots, and even the backstage shots are amazing, so.

NINA MOINI: So are you going to be surprised and seeing it, for the first time, come to fruition?

JAYLEE ROSAND: Yeah, in a way, I guess you could say that.

[CHUCKLING]

NINA MOINI: Super cool. And so remind me again, are tickets still available, Vivian?

VIVIAN TRAN: Yeah, they're still available, basically, until the show starts. [LAUGHS]

NINA MOINI: OK. Any Lunar New Year or messages or anything that you want to share with everybody before we have to go? Jaylee?

JAYLEE ROSAND: Just that everyone should come see our show. Tickets are still available. I know we still have some spaces left. And you should definitely come out and celebrate with us.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, broaden your horizons. Maybe learn something new. What about you, Vivian?

VIVIAN TRAN: Yes, happy new year, everyone. Please come to the show and also the photo exhibition. It's going to be awesome. You're going to see some really, really cool photos and also some of the pieces that the designers made themselves up close.

NINA MOINI: Wonderful. Happy new year to you both. 1,000 congratulations. Wishing you just a wonderful event. Thank you. You could say thanks.

[LAUGHTER]

VIVIAN TRAN: Thank you.

JAYLEE ROSAND: Thank you.

NINA MOINI: Vivian Tran is the director of The Serpent's Charm fashion show. Jaylee Rosand is the designer in the show. And tickets, again, are still available to see the show tomorrow night in Minneapolis. We'll have a link on our website, mprnews.org. I'm Nina Moini. Thanks for listening to Minnesota Now.

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