SF Gate: Jason Wu Opens Up to The SF Chronicle

30-year old fashion designer Jason Wu will be the featured guest at the annual San Francisco Opera Guild  fashion show fundraiser on March 21.

” The Art of Fashion: Jason Wu”  will be held at San Francisco City Hall and will be highlighted by a cocktail party, runway show and buffet dinner.

He recently talked to Caroline Zinko of the San Francisco Chronicle by telephone. Wu is one of several rising designers of Asian descent who have drawn praise from the industry.

“I think perhaps it’s a generational thing,” Wu said. ” A generation before me, it was impossible to pursue a career as a designer because the fashion industry didn’t exist outside of Europe.

“I suppose we’re just in the time where there’s a new face in fashion,” he said,

Wu was born in Taiwan and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 9. By age 16 he was creating clothing designs for dolls.  He became a major name in the industry in 2009 when Michelle Obama wore one of his designs to the President’s first inaugural ball.  Wu repeated that feat when Mrs. Obama wore another one of his gowns to the second inaugural ball in January.

He described the Jason Wu women this way to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“There’s a certain propriety in the Jason Wu woman, yet she’s a little provocative and sexy. You don’t know what’s in her bag. That subversion has become more evident in my work. She’s put together on the outside, but she has a naughty little secret behind the closed doors. The mystery of it all is so much more fun.”