The Hermitage Jacket is a mixed-material work wear jacket designed as a modernized and Westernized hanfu garment. Just as the diaspora has transformed Chinese culture and cuisine, so too can traditional fashions come to reflect the experiences and identity of Asian-Americans in the US. In a time when Asian hate is on the rise on the West, cultural visibility in the social landscape may serve as both an act of pride and protest. 

The jacket is constructed with two fabrics: denim and Chinese handmade indigo cloth (手工布). In the west, denim is a durable, hard-wearing, blue textile that has come to represent the working class. Interestingly enough, China too has a blue-dyed heavyweight fabric used in workwear garments. I wanted to create a material dialogue between these two textiles, integrating these materials strategically into a garment designed as a functional hybrid of Chinese and Western-style fashions.