A Love Letter to Sandy Liang

I am my mother’s child. I was raised in a Filipino household by a self sufficient, single mother. As a result, I’ve grown into a woman eager for opportunity and hungry for admiration. I want to be revolutionary in the same way that I want to remain zealous and sincere. I’m a simple woman with complicated ambitions. I look to my past self for inspiration and my future self for motivation. I can’t quite remember when my Bakya sandals were replaced by Skechers or when my mom stopped speaking Tagalog to me in the kitchen. I was the daughter of an immigrant growing up in a town where nobody looked like me. I allowed my heritage to fade away like a morning dew. I embraced the American way of life in every aspect — food, fashion, pop culture, you name it. 

Now, as a 21 year old on the verge of reaching true adulthood, I’m gripping onto my heritage and my girlhood with white knuckles. 

It’s my fourth year of studying fashion and I’ve developed a keen eye for trends. This year was overflowing with nostalgic innovation. All of my childhood memories that were once fleeting have now resurfaced in the form of fashion. Ballet slippers, bows, and dainty dresses dominated the runways. The designer responsible for this resurgence is none other than Sandy Liang. I stumbled upon the brand while working as a stylist at a luxury boutique in Richmond. Since then, I’ve been hooked. Her elegant and only slightly frilled designs epitomize the duality of being both a girl and woman. Her pieces are recognized by their use of lace, satin, and more muted colors. The native New Yorker draws inspiration from the maternal figures she grew up with in Chinatown. Her incorporation of Chinese heritage into her work creates a story waiting to be told. Earlier this year, she infused her heritage into her brand by releasing a Chinese New Year collection that embraced the Year of the Rabbit. This collection showcased bunny hair clips, bobbled roses, as well as red tights paired with Mary Janes. She aims to not let her girlhood and heritage be forgotten, but instead inspire her. She has paved the way for beautiful simplicity and encapsulated the yearning feeling of wanting to be a child again.

For a while, I didn’t know who I was. I thought I had to reinvent myself every year and become someone who had their whole life figured out.  I eventually realized we never truly change. Our childhood self will always live within us. 

  I was an all-American girl who  grew up doing ballet, wearing heart shaped lockets and playing dress up. If you asked me who I was today, I’d say the exact same thing. I’m the same girl I was when I was five, just with new ambitions, fears, and experiences under my belt. 

So thank you Sandy, for reminding me of who I am. A girl who loves pink ribbons and being filipino.