Chen Peng

As chinese designers slowly but surely take up a larger space in the global fashion scene, the spotlight is focussing on Peng Chen, who is shaking things up by challenging the traditional notions of feminine beauty

- Andrea Sim

Coming from a family of ceramic artists, Peng Chen has never viewed fashion as a silo. And it certainly wasn’t his first love. Like his father and sister whose medium of craft is Chinese porcelain, the designer recalls being enamoured by fine art from a young age, with the subject being the focus of his studies before he went off to London on a gap year to learn English and gain realworld experience by way of internships. This saw him intern at Dior, before putting down temporary roots in the city to study menswear design at the London College of Fashion.

After another reputable stint under his belt, this time at Gareth Pugh, Peng struck out on his own in 2015 with an eponymous label based out of London. “The most important thing I learnt from him is how to deliver a concept. Every week, there are a lot of artists who come to Pugh’s studio to collaborate, so I also learnt how to communicate, and of course, to manufacture,” says the designer. Call it a persuasive concept or peg it to his foundation in fine art, but Peng doesn’t just design to sell the sculptural puffer jackets that are now a brand signature (and likely a consumer’s first visual reference of the brand), he also designs to communicate his beliefs.