Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amy Sun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Amy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is being a part of MESH, UW’s first ever fashion design student organization. Coming into college, I had given up any dreams I had of participating in fashion or fashion design ever again, as I knew that UW had no such community. Fashion communities existed, but fashion shows and student designers did not exist as a collective. In my freshman fall, I miraculously found 5 other people who were just as passionate about fashion design as I was, and together we founded MESH. These 5 amazing people were Manya, Dan, Ten, Tianna, and Archie. Manya was who brought us together – throughout the next year, we would build a community that was focused on collective creativity, creating space for each other, and providing resources for each other.
In our first year, our annual fashion show sold out, drawing in 300+ audience members for our 15 designer show. Our 15 designers, most of whom were beginners, went on to continue creating. After Manya, Dan, Ten and Tianna graduated that year, Archie and I turned our focus to making MESH a DIY collective, hosting educational workshops that emphasized using material that you had, and working to make our resources accessible to more people.
This year, after all the other founders have graduated, I’m still in MESH, trying to make it an educational resource for more students like me who craved this kind of community. In September, I headed HEATWAVE, a small fashion show that focused on true beginner designers. For the month leading up to the show, I workshopped the 9 designers in how to sew, how to pattern, and basically teaching them the fashion show structure from scratch. I am proud to say that all 9 of them came out with a determination to continue designing and creating more. MESH’s community is so dear to me, and it will always be the most meaningful project I’ve done.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Before MESH, I did a fashion design club in high school called InDesign. It was similar in that there was an annual fashion show and workshops, but mainly it grew my interest in fashion design and creating clothing. Getting into MESH as an organizer, I realized how much community means and how much more value leading and organizing brought to me. Although I started out as a designer, I’m slowly realizing that the values of leadership and community I learned from MESH are something I’ll carry into the rest of my life, whether I’m in fashion or not.
I have served as MESH’s president for almost 2 and a half years now, and I can proudly say that I’ve grown MESH to where it is now, a huge community of fashion enthusiasts not just at UW but in the Seattle area. It’s been so important for us to connect with not just our local fashion community, but also our queer community because that is where art flourishes and grows the most. The majority of our club members and club-goers are queer people of color, and so we really make it a goal to reach out to those communities and provide resources and opportunities for them. At the same time, we are also committed to not adhering to outdated industry standards – our modeling team aims to be as size and identity-inclusive as we can, as we believe that anyone can model as long as they have the confidence.
An event that we really hope to reach as many as we can is our Expo, a convention-style event that brings together Seattle fashion resources and opportunities – think a career fair and convention all in one, and all about fashion. Because the UW has no formal fashion program, MESH wants to serve as that replacement. Last year, the Expo hosted a cultural fashion show, 3 speakers(2 of which were UW alumni working in fashion/textiles), and an alumni panel. We want our members and anyone who is interested to be able to access resources related to fashion as much as we can so we can grow our network of creatives! The event also has a theme, photobooths, and we really encourage event-goers to dress up to the theme for fun. We love to see our members’ creativity and pretty outfits!!! This year, the event is being hosted on February 22nd at the UW HUB, and we’re bringing in even more speakers, activities, and workshops! Stay tuned for more information <3

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society needs to understand the need for a thriving creative ecosystem – creativity is what can enrich, enlighten, and bring meaning to life. I think what I hear a lot in my own family about my creative endeavors is stuff like “Well will it help you find a job?” or “Did you meet anyone that can help you find a job?” which is yes, very valid questioning in a time when corporate jobs are snatched up before you can even think about it. However, what they don’t understand is that being a part of a creative community can “feed the soul,” as white people would say. Everyone has needs and wants, and for me, being a part of something creative is most definitely a need. I need that creative energy to be able to continue on studying something that isn’t creative or interesting to me but can help me find a job later on. But at the same time, other creatives have a different level of that tolerance and they need the creative energy to be constantly in their lives, as the one thing that they do, in order to survive. This was a little bit of a ramble – but to conclude, society just needs to be more tolerating and supporting of artists and creatives because art is what makes life worth living. If artists and creatives didn’t exist, our world would be so f*ck*ng boring and gross. Society should also be more financially supporting. Support small businesses and artists if you can!!!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

For MESH, the goal is to bring as many fashion resources to UW as possible. We want to be the hub for fashion at UW, both socially and educationally. We want fashion education to be accessible to everyone who needs or wants it. For me personally, I don’t really care if my art touches anyone emotionally or evokes anything, I think I just want to make pretty things that people will look at and say, “wow that’s really cool” and that’s it. Nothing much. But I do love community organizing

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mesh.uw
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mesh-uw

Image Credits

Anusha Saha, Jayden Becles, Rowan Sharp, Abbie Whittall