Profile | Style and sustainability: fashion designer Chiahung Su goes back to his roots – think Chinese herbs, vegetable dyes

Fashion designer Chiahung Su, a semi-finalist for the prestigious 2024 LVMH Prize, promotes indigenous Taiwanese culture through his eponymous label

His ethos is based on exploring the beauty of impermanence and imperfection through reclaimed materials, ancestral techniques and sustainable practices

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Looks from Chiahung Su’s autumn/winter 2024 campaign. The fibres and dyeing processes Chiahung Su uses have a long history in Taiwan. Photo: Chiahung Su

Published: 12:45pm, 24 May 2024Updated: 10:41pm, 27 May 2024

Nestled among the confectionery stands and racks piled high with bags full of mushrooms, spices and incense in the market area of Taiwan’s capital is a very different store.

Here, in what is known as Old Taipei, the fashion designer Chiahung Su has chosen to open his first boutique.

In a 1930s building, steep stairs at the back lead up to an atelier. Cross over the private courtyard and you will see an outhouse repurposed as dyeing rooms, where gigantic pots bubble away, cooking Chinese herbs for laborious dye tests.

The location might seem an odd choice for a budding fashion star, who frequently flies to Paris, London and Reykjavik in Iceland (his favourite city), but Su’s approach plays on the unexpected.

Chiahung Su introduces his work to industry insiders at the LVMH Prize showcase. Photo: Chiahung Su

His originality is inherent in the looks of his unisex label, with its mix of relaxed silhouettes in a subdued, natural colour palette, and its focus on fabrication alongside subtle details such as mandarin collars, raw edges and asymmetrical cuts.