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.

Jason Wu

Categorized in : Taste Mom Antiques

When I was 12 or 13 I already knew that I was gay. And then my interests were not conventional. So I was very different, in every sense of the word. And in an all-boys school, that's tough.

gay boys school

My inspirations come from everywhere. It's important to look at e... by Jason Wu

My inspirations come from everywhere. It's important to look at everything and anything.

important inspiration looks

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.

makeup new-york thinking

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.

mom inspiration years

We all want to be a little glamorous, a little playful and a litt... by Jason Wu

We all want to be a little glamorous, a little playful and a little mischievous at times.

glamorous want littles

I hope I am the antithesis of disposable fashion. by Jason Wu

I hope I am the antithesis of disposable fashion.

disposable antithesis fashion

Buy things you truly love, things that are special, but not a lot of them. It’s about value, not quantity.

quantity values special

Actually, I'm probably 99-and-a-half percent plastic now. by Jason Wu

Actually, I'm probably 99-and-a-half percent plastic now.

plastic percent half

I think what I create is serious fashion, but I don't want to keep my focus on that. You have to look at a lot of different things. I mean, people are always surprised when they find out that my favorite show is RuPaul's Drag Race.

fashion mean thinking

I worked 10 years as a toy designer before I started my career as a fashion designer. It's something I just fell into and really liked.

fashion careers years

I am an Asian designer. I was born in Taiwan. That is who I am. But I am a designer, like any designer of any race. Growing up in the '80s in Taiwan, the arts were not considered a career.

growing-up race art

I miss All Stars, by the way. I was just telling people: how am I... by Jason Wu

I miss All Stars, by the way. I was just telling people: how am I going to get by until January?

stars missing people

I love old architecture. I love collecting furniture, mixing really earthy things with the very polished. I don't come from an interiors background, so I'm not an expert. I just enjoy going to antiques shows and finding interesting things.

mixing experts interesting

My cats are really sassy and sophisticated, but most importantly,... by Jason Wu

My cats are really sassy and sophisticated, but most importantly, they are picky.

sassy sophisticated cat

I didn't understand anything about fashion until I moved to Canada when I was 9. That's when I learned English and was exposed to fashion magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

canada magazines fashion

When I was growing up, you sort of did the unthinkable. You did something that has never really been replicated.

unthinkable growing growing-up

I love the idea of working with women because I always feel like a man designing womenswear needs women around him to really have a sense of what they're doing.

design men ideas

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.

space house character

I hope being gay isn't the most interesting thing about me. by Jason Wu

I hope being gay isn't the most interesting thing about me.

being-gay gay interesting

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.

magazines fashion reading