Jason Wu
Jason Wu
Jason Wuis a Taiwanese-born Canadian fashion designer based in New York City. He is most famous for designing the dresses of Michelle Obama on several occasions, including during the first and second inauguration of American President Barack Obama...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionFashion Designer
Date of Birth27 September 1982
CityTaipei, Taiwan
CountryCanada
thinking goal kind
I guess I accidentally became a part of history. Honestly, when you're young and you're a designer, you have a goal, but that is not the kind of goal that you even think it's possible to achieve.
half plastic percent
Actually, I'm probably 99-and-a-half percent plastic now.
stars people missing
I miss All Stars, by the way. I was just telling people: how am I going to get by until January?
growing-up growing unthinkable
When I was growing up, you sort of did the unthinkable. You did something that has never really been replicated.
fashion reading magazines
when I moved to Canada in '93, I started reading fashion magazines, and that's where I spotted the M.A.C ad that RuPaul were in. That's sort of how I first "met" you - in the red bodysuit. That was so iconic to me.
mom inspiration years
The way my mom dressed was one of my earliest inspirations, in those '80s suits with shoulder pads and things like that. For years, I ran away from that style. But now, all I want to do is shoulder pads and nipped-in waists and padded hips and peplums and poufed dresses.
jobs dad home
My parents loved me, and I think they realized that I was probably not going to have a normal 9-to-5 job. For the longest time, my dad thought that I was just going to be home until I was, like, 35, which, weirdly, is completely normal in Asian families.
mean giving dresses
The polishedness and the sophistication were what I was interested in. I mean, give me a polka dot, a floral print, a pleated dress, a big fur coat, that was always my language, and it wasn't very "in" when I was starting out, so I had a difficult time in the beginning.
feminine wanted sculpting
For a while, I just thought that I wanted to be an illustrator because that's all I wanted to do. I also did some sculpting. It was always very artsy and very feminine, everything that I did.
mom antiques taste
My mom used to take me to antique shows, which I hated because everything was so dusty and old and there were all these weird ladies selling their antiques. We call them "eclectic" now. But it was really amazing that I was exposed to that when I was younger. Now that I have my own taste, I understand it more.
character space house
I would love to take an old space and restore it to exactly the way I want it. Like an old factory, just something with great bones and lots of character. I'd take an old house and flip it into something very modern inside, or the other way around.
dad machines pieces
I don't collect things per se, but I do pick up things as I go. Like, in my studio I have an old sewing machine from Germany that my dad gave me, and then something else that I got from a friend in India, and a piece of flooring from one of my shows.
blonde feels know-me
Anyone who knows me knows that I don't know anything about politics. Every time I go to Washington, I feel like I'm in Legally Blonde.
new-york makeup thinking
The idea of transformation is super-important to me. You can see it in the way I approach things. I have never been a clean-faced, freshly scrubbed hair person. I'm the New York designer who doesn't do that. I think about the hair and makeup almost as much as I think about the clothes because it all has to work.