I was born and raised in Buenos Aires. I grew up there. My family's from there. But, ethnically Taiwanese. So I lived in Taiwan for 6 years. I was in Argentina for my first 6 years, Spanish was my first language. And then I moved to Taiwan, had to learn Mandarin starting over. We lost everything in Buenos Aires.

I only remember the feelings in Buenos Aires, not visually, the feelings of talking in Spanish and have such open communication, feelings of being really the only child at that point. And. Having so much freedom and say, and, my mom was always like, "you were yelling at people in Spanish." I was not afraid. I was so out there. My mom would also buy me anything I wanted. I was the only child. And I love that. So probably just really great memories. There wasn't anything bad. I think that was like a really beautiful time in our lives before the economy crisis and we lost kind of everything in the bank. My parents grew up there. So they grew up in Buenos Aires, both seeking freedom.

In Taiwan, I didn't know Mandarin and I had to learn it from scratch. Outwardly, I look Asian. But internally, I didn't really understand that aspect. And I think I have this identity pool of, "okay, now I have to be Taiwanese. I have to learn Mandarin." I've almost forced myself to stop speaking in Spanish, because I was cutting off the identity to really learn Mandarin because this is what I was supposed to be doing. I was really just focused on immersing myself in the culture. It was fitting in. I think assimilating is really important to me. There wasn't a sense of fashion. I also feel like from 6 to 12, I didn't think about that as much. You know, I was a kid. So you wear a t-shirt and shorts and pants whatever to school and it is what it is. I wore the same backpack for like three years because it's a backpack. It was more function over anything else.

I think it was until Hong Kong, I started recognizing the way you dress and how it affects you. I think Hong Kong was interesting because I was in international school, so I really could feel how I was different from everyone else. Everyone else was super rich, wealthy, been going to international schools growing up, had everything they wanted. And one thing I'm thankful for was because we had uniforms, there wasn't a way to show class, like, directly through your dress. So technically we're all the same because we're wearing the same uniforms. But when we're out of school, that's when everything comes out because I don't have anything to wear. And I could hide behind a uniform and just really focus on assimilating into a school life, learning English, trying to understand what people are saying. I think just the language barrier was a lot, like learning Cantonese, learning English. Not everyone spoke Mandarin.

And then, because noticing I can't hide behind these uniforms from Monday to Friday, I need clothes. Like one time I literally met up with a team, like a school mate and I wore uniform on the weekend cause I didn't know what to wear. And he was like, "why are you wearing a uniform?" And I was like, "I don't know what to wear." iI's a shirt and skirt and I could wear it, it was still function, but I definitely was then learning through social cues, what is acceptable and what's not. And also at that point, I couldn't really fit into night market clothes. I was too big. I was very tall. I remember when H& M first opened in Hong Kong, I was so excited because they will have size 10 shoes that's cheap. So I literally wore these green polka dot shoes with everything when I didn't go with anything at all. It was always just like one item that I would wear all the time. And how could I kind of stretch the longevity of the item because that is what I have. I don't have a lot of money. And so yeah, it was still survival, but now being more conscious of how you dress, where you shop, and then trying to find the best item given your time and resource. It wasn't about self expression. It was about conforming into a group identity, that no matter what class you're coming from, you are still in that group. I can't really tell you that deep level of what exactly was going on because I was just trying to survive and trying to fit in and I had a really hard time fitting in. You know, you will never really be in the same playing field because they grew up in Hong Kong their entire lives. They grew up in that world, and me as a newcomer going in. I was just trying to figure out the rules.

And then before I was able to learn it all, I left. So I'm kind of grateful I was able to leave. I think it was very different because now you are in America, there's no night markets, people don't hang out. I remember being 12 in Hong Kong, I could go to karaoke at night with my friends and then, go take a subway by myself. And I was here and I was like, wait, I can't go out to dinner after like 8 p. m. I have to be driven everywhere. But I was also learning to assimilate with English, try to understand where do I sit for lunch? What am I talking about? Trying to get cues, that was a time before we had a phone and I worked so hard to get an iPod so I could listen to music. I was trying so hard to fit in, but this time there's no uniform, right? With like 40 bucks, what can I get the most out of 40. That will be shopping, the sale sections and clearances and I became very good at that of trying to get the most of my money so I could explore different avenues.

The turning point probably is making a really close friend. She would tell me why she put things together. I think having that level of understanding of not just me trying but now this is someone who's lived here, telling you, "I'm putting this together because I like this." And then this makes sense. And then you start collecting pieces of that. And then, you start putting formulas together, because then you're mixing matching putting formulas together.
I was also always online looking at inspiration. I think the internet is a great resource in terms of seeing there's a different world outside of me. And how could I fit into that world thinking that's normal. I remember looking at lookbook. I don't know if that's still a thing anymore. But lookbook was amazing to look at, street fashion bloggers, I would like read up on things. What are people buying? So I would want it. And I think it still comes back to assimilating, which is you want to fit in into this world in your own identity, but you're trying to figure out what the identity is. But by seeing what other people are doing, you have an understanding of these are the steps and how they got there. Could I recreate that? So we could almost be the same. And it wasn't about race. It wasn't about any of that. It was about an identity, right? Like, okay, if these are people who are in fashion, who are confident in what they're wearing, maybe I could also be confident when I'm wearing because I have a playbook. So I think that was a really good starting point for me. So I started building formulas and I think being in school, it was interesting to see how everyone else dressed. I was able to use that time to really explore fashion because it was at a much better scale. I would buy clothes for much cheaper and much better quality. And that's, I think that was a turning point, probably high school is for me to realize. I could have a great sense of style by shopping vintage because, and I have things that no one else has. It was so easy. Crossroads, Buffalo exchange and Goodwill are literally two blocks away. So I would just go after school and I would just go shopping. I love shopping. Like I just love buying one or two pieces.

I knew I wanted to be in fashion, but I knew I didn't want to be like in fashion design. I didn't care about designing clothes, but I just love stuff. And I'm just a hoarder. I think just knowing I want to be in a city and FIT had an open curriculum that I enjoyed. I could explore different things. So I did a lot of research on like what other city schools they had. And it just felt like FIT was the right choice. I've always wanted to live in the city and I think the culture probably was freedom. I could be whoever I wanted. You can have so many different identities. I didn't care about school. I mean, I started caring more probably in sophomore and junior year and senior year. The freshman year, I was like, "this is my time to be free." I finally learned English. So I could speak proper English and I can make new friends. At the time, my fashion was, I go to school, I have my school uniform, which is sweatpants. I was always in a studio, and you have to be your most comfortable when you're working.

I think I started putting more effort into my daily outfits when I started working sophomore year, because that was the translation of who I am at work. And in time, you stop really caring what people think of you. And I think that's when it really comes out, but you still have to keep it to a professional level of outfit. And then that's a justification for why I'm making purchases, not because, "Oh, I want to try things out." Like I already tried things out. I know what silhouettes work for me. I know what size I am. And once you start knowing all that, it makes shopping so much easier. I'm wearing slacks. I'm wearing loafers, but I have kind of a twist to it, like a boyish twist with a feminine touch, I love kind of playing with proportions, oversized comfort. But I think overall key to all this is that comfort is extremely important to me and I don't always make decisions.

I will ask my body, I'm like, "Body, what would you like to wear today?" And my body would choose for me. That’s how I choose clothing now.