Emmy Gao

 In Taoism, there is no absolute birth and death. And I also believe that life is just like a circle, the end is also another beginning point. When we are born in the world, we are in the stage of “independence” and then as we grow up we are in the stage of “interdependence”. In the middle we are in the stage of “dependency”, later on, we are getting older we are in the stage of “crisis management”. Then we begin to lose things and less flexible, we are being toward the stage of “end of life”.

Death and birth are happening at the same time. The death point is also another beginning of life. I am using my design to show people the system of the life cycle. I begin with completely white and then the colors are added on smoothly. I want to show a movement from the beginning to the end, the colors are added up until black.

Zhangxuemei (Emmy) Gao, is a recent graduate of The Parsons School of Design. She was born and grew up in Beijing, China. Then she went to Honolulu, Hawaii for high school. The combination of modern cities and Hawaii gives her a special experience in her life. She had been to more than twenty countries and learned about different cultures.

She became interested in fashion when she was a kid playing dolls. She sees design as a way to express herself; a way to rethink life; an experience to find who she is; a method to record memories; a process to experiment with materials; a short break being away from reality. Her passion for fashion led her to try and wants to be a designer or buyer in the future.