Meet the Asian designers rewriting fashion’s body rules

Size inclusivity remains fashion’s unresolved business problem. Data from the #IncludingTheCurve report shows that more than 62 designers presented at Milan Fashion Week last womenswear season. With an average of 40 models per show or presentation, approximately 2,480 models walked the runway. Just nine were considered “curve” or “plus size” — a mere 0.36%. Last season was nearly identical: 10 out of 2,960 models were classified as plus size. The marginal fluctuation underscores an ongoing structural issue. Against this backdrop, a new generation of Asian designers is reshaping the narrative around body politics and brand positioning. Chinese labels such as Rui Zhou’s Rui, Bing Xiougn, and Alwools are embedding body inclusivity into their design language and casting choices. Across East Asia, beauty standards have historically favored thinness, youth, and uniformity — ideals reinforced by global commercial advertising, celebrity culture, and platform algorithms. Designers like Rui Zhou are responding with collections that foreground stretch, transparency, and tactility — garments engineered to move with the body rather than constrain it. The lookbooks and runway presentations of some emerging talent hailing from Asia feature a spectrum of physiques, subtly but decisively challenging the industry’s entrenched visual codes. The disruption lies less in spectacle and more in normalization. While European fashion weeks struggle with meaningful size representation and legacy luxury houses debate inclusivity in marketing language, emerging Asian brands are operationalizing it through product development and casting. Here are some of Asia’s leading talents rewriting the narrative around body positivity. Rui Founded by Chinese designer Rui Zhou in 2019, Rui operates between New York and Shanghai. Zhou studied at Tsinghua University in Beijing and later at Parsons School of Design in New York before launching her eponymous womenswear brand. Exploring the interplay between skin and fabric, Rui produces inclusive, intimate designs. Grace Ling Grace Ling is a Singapore-born, New York–based designer redefining the intersection of technology and luxury through sculptural, body-contouring design. A Parsons School of Design graduate, Ling launched her eponymous label with a focus on precision engineering and advanced fabrication techniques, including 3D modeling and metal casting, creating garments that blur the line between industrial object and second skin. Bing Xiougn Bing Xiong studied at both Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. Based in London, UK, the emerging designer is known for conceptual womenswear focused on sensuality and the relationship between body and garment. Alwools Alwools is a Chinese knitwear fashion brand founded in 2019 by designer Sun Rongfei after graduating from Raffles Design Institute in Singapore. The brand is based in China and focuses on experimental knitwear, using innovative fabric exploration and structural silhouettes to expand the possibilities of woven fashion. Alwools presents its collections at major regional fashion events like Puyuan Fashion Week and Shanghai runway shows, blending technical knit experimentation with conceptual ideas. Chet Lo Chet Lo is a Hong Kong-born fashion designer based in London and a fixture on the British capital’s fashion week schedule. He founded his eponymous label after graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2020 and quickly became known for theatrical, sculptural womenswear that champions couture craftsmanship with avant-garde sensibilities. Lo’s work has been showcased at major fashion weeks and is celebrated for its bold use of silhouette, color, and motif.

Sectors

Insights

Company

Meet the Asian designers rewriting fashion’s body rules