Food or fashion? Why not both? Leeann Huang marries the two in her designs

“It was very much about the illusion of food,” says Huang, citing Japanese game shows where contestants take bites out of objects to determine whether they are made with food.

“I made knits that looked realistic, but made out of chocolate and jelly; I used oranges dipped in resin as decoration; and I made a lot of prints and embroideries based around food.”

Born in Los Angeles in the US state of California to immigrant Taiwanese parents, Huang grew up spoiled for choice in a multicultural culinary environment where she had easy access to a variety of Asian and international cuisines.

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a chef, but that’s just because I loved eating,” she recalls. “My parents would always joke that they never had to ‘teach me how to eat’.”

Instead of looking up recipes, Huang found herself more intrigued by her mother and grandmother’s thrifty – and quintessentially Asian – practice of bringing well-designed garments to seamstresses, who would copy the clothes before returning them to stores.

She was mesmerised by the process and, at age 14, she signed up for pattern-cutting classes outside school.

“I’d always loved art and making things with my hands. When I was in high school, I decided that I would study fashion [in university]. It was just so much fun,” says Huang.

Unfortunately, the fun did not last. After moving to Paris, she burned out and became disillusioned after training in the luxury fashion industry, where junior employees are often mistreated.

“The main thing I took joy from was eating; I loved living in Paris purely because of the food. And I love watching cooking shows because it’s so stimulating seeing all the colours, textures and everything come together.”

“Once I became more comfortable with the production side of things, my work grew rapidly online. I started gaining more following and decided, ‘If I’m selling so much to the point that I can’t even do my full-time job properly, I might as well just do this full-time.’ I started the business about two years ago.”

Huang tells the Post that much of the label’s growth has been driven by her online audience.

“There is such a playful nature to food, which is such an easy entry point. I think it’s something everyone relates to. I’m just surprised that so many people are buying it.”

Offline, the designer engages with the design community as well as her customers through pop-up events. In May 2024 alone, these events took her to Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo.

“It’s so interesting to see each city’s different demographic and what they like. I take a lot of that feedback to update styles and learn so much from every single city each time,” Huang says.

“I love interacting with people – clothing is so intimate and personal that I want to know what people really want.”

“I think it makes people want to wear the clothing more. Even for people who aren’t within my ready-to-wear size range, I offer free customisations,” she notes. “I do it for free because I want people to wear my clothes.”

This personal approach also extends to her quirky, whimsical designs and graphics. A skirt from her spring/summer 2024 collection features a steamed fish plate cooked by Huang herself.

“Sometimes I just take a picture of what I have and turn it into a print. I always had this idea of putting a dinner setting on a skirt.”

Although she has not achieved her childhood dream of becoming a chef, the designer has made cooking one of her primary pastimes, calling it her “place to just zone out after work and make something good”.

She finds inspiration in the sensory experience of grocery shopping, which she does every Thursday at a farmer’s market close to where she lives in Los Angeles.

After her spring/summer 24 collection, Huang continued to tap bright colours for her autumn/winter 24 collection – which features lenticular animal prints that change colour and metallic styles, through which she depicts a surreal “lost in the forest” plot.

“I’ve always been quite playful in what I do, and the more I wanted to explore joy and playfulness in my work, the more bright and fun it became,” she says.

“I want the person to feel exuberant when they shop; [for me to say] ‘Look at how this works’, and dance for you to get the effect of my clothes.”