NYLON - January 2008 - (Page 72) SPIRITED AWAY ANIME INFLUENCES COLLIDE IN THE WORLD OF JEN KAO. BY SUSAN CERNEK. PHOTOGRAPHED BY JAMES MAHON If Jen Kao’s clothing betrays a bit of an outlandish side, it might have something to do with the diet of anime that she grew up on. Kao, who was raised in Kansas City, began watching the fantastical movies of the Japanese auteur Hayao Miyazaki as a child, when her Taiwanese grandmother sent the videos to her in the mail. “I couldn’t understand the dialogue,” Kao recalls, but she was immediately captivated by his otherwordly characters. After high school, Kao picked up a studio arts degree from NYU before studying fashion at Parsons. She presented her first collection this past September at New York fashion week. Miyazaki’s films, David Mack’s collaged Kabuki comic books, contemporary pop artist Yoshitomo Nara’s illustrations, and Takashi Murakami’s “Superflat” paintings all provide inspiration for the line of long dresses with snap-able trains, drape-front trousers, and halter-strap button-front tops. “My whole collection revolves around the sophisticated onesie,” she says. “I like things that make a statement but are still comfortable enough to romp around in.” Kao is careful, however, to keep her adventurous aesthetic from becoming too cartoonish. She honed her skills in the ateliers of Jill Stuart and Twinkle, so has had more than her share of exposure to successful, commercially viable, designers. She is also keen to collaborate with artists who operate outside the confines of the fashion world. For spring, she tapped the photographer Ryan McGinley to shoot her lookbook, and at press time, she was in talks with the illustrator Jeffrey Brown (who also directed Death Cab for Cutie’s “Your Heart is An Empty Room” video) to do a custom print for her next collection. Meanwhile, back home in Kansas, Kao’s friends and family are hoping she might turn out to be the next Kate Spade (Spade hails from the Missouri side of Kansas City), but Kao is not so sure she wants that. As she points out, “There’s a lot more to fashion than Kate Spade.” stylist: cris melendez. hair: aaron purcel at bumble and bumble. model: claudia seiler at one. dress by jen kao, stylist’s own necklace.
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