Xinrong Chen

Xinrong Chen

Phygital

Bio

Xinrong (Therese) Chen

LinkedIn
Video:
Photographer: Chloe Ge @chloeeege
Designer: Xinrong @xinrongchen_therese
MUH: Mari @mari4l3jandra
Videographer: Loki @loki.pendragon
Model: Yiga @yigabear

"When I Sneeze, I Think of You"

When I Sneeze, I Think of You explores moments of tension in which intimate emotions surface unexpectedly in public. It is inspired by the contrast between the designer’s experience of sneezing in New York City, where it prompts a casual “bless you,” and in China, where her family reacts according to a popular superstition: one sneeze suggests that someone is missing you, two sneezes indicate that someone may be speaking negatively about you, and three sneezes are thought to signal the onset of a cold. This contrast triggers flashes of childhood memory while she is physically in New York, creating a sense of dislocation between time and space that the collection seeks to capture.

Maroon nylon twill, moss wool melton, plaids, and denim reference personal family photographs, while contemporary urban silhouettes bring these elements into the present. Through this balance of personal history and new environment, the collection reflects on connection and adaptation. It articulates the SOF value of Belonging by balancing identity across past and present, expressing an openness to new experiences and evolving identity.
Image: Franz Erhard Walther’s Work Activations suggests art becomes active through interaction. I see my present the same way, it activates when it meets my past, in small moments like sneezing, where New York’s “bless you” contrasts with my family’s superstitions in China.
Image: To mimic the moment of realization, I cut two one-yard pieces of textile and sewed them into a square. I placed myself inside and cut an opening to exit, shifting from immobilization to wearing something created in the present through interaction with the fabric, which represents past memory.
Image: Inspired by Franz Erhard Walther’s "Work Activations", I worked with red nylon textiles, sourcing a maroon nylon twill with a similar texture, along with a secondhand red nylon jacket for draping.
Image: Joseph Beuys’s Die Haut reflects his use of a military blanket, a material tied to personal memory, carrying meanings of protection, insulation, and survival. This way of thinking influences my process: when I look at a childhood photograph of myself learning to walk at four, with my father beside me, I am drawn to the movement of the grass and its warmth. Inspired by this, I selected fabrics that echo both the texture of the grass and Beuys’s material logic, leading to a heavyweight moss wool melton that embodies protection, memory, and care, alongside a plaid fabric sourced to match the photo’s palette and used for patchwork.
Image: Inspired by the drawstring of the jacket, I incorporate a dual-drawstring construction in Look 2 to suggest a sudden flashback, creating a “jump” in silhouette that triggers emotional shift and memory recall across contexts. The denim shorts echo what I wore in a childhood photograph, reinterpreted with a more modern, contemporary fit.