Plurality In One Sense

Rong Jake Chen opens up on what it means to be a person-of-colour designing in a white-dominated market and the inspirations and master plan behind the growing popularity of his genderless jewellery label Graedance.

- Manfred Lu

Rong Jake Chen’s designs seem to exist in the abstract plains of ideas, yet the Chinese-born Australian designer is grounded in pragmatic beliefs. In an industry that thrives in the perils of constant revamps and overhauls in search of the next “big” thing, the path for creatives is often laden with risks — grow too slowly, and it becomes a reckless gamble; grow too quickly, and insufficient demand might leave your dream halfbaked — but the creative behind the genderless jewellery label Graedance had different challenges growing up. “Being an immigrant, I was never really exposed to the possibility of working in the arts or creative industries,” shares Chen. “Both my grandfathers were teachers, and they instilled the idea that practical education was above all else.”

I’ve read that you never had a formal education in fashion. Can you tell us more about what changed your mind and how you found yourself in the industry?