 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Last update: 25 December 2017(April 2022) |
Adrienne Wu | |
|---|---|
 Adrienne Wu in 2020 | |
| Born | (1990-08-09)9 August 1990 (age 35) Burlington,Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
Adrienne Wu (born August 9, 1990) is a Canadian fashion designer.
Adrienne Francis Wu Ming Bong is a Canadian fashion designer who was born on August 9, 1990, inBurlington, Ontario.[1] On their YouTube channel in 2015, Wu came out as Neutrois (Non-Binary) Transgender, began using gender-neutral pronouns, and began advocating with Toronto's (SOY) Supporting Our Youth group. Wu began their self-taught career in 2008, when they posted 50 outfits on social media, which led to possibilities to produce fashion shows and collections across Canada.Margaret Atwood, a display at theNational Gallery, and Freed Development's Fashion House Condos were among the business collaborations featured during Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto Fashion Week. Wu has concentrated on design through fleecer.ca, a wearable technology firm, @wumingbong on YouTube, a transgender and non-binary advocacy platform, and aHuffington Post column researching queer theory, trans studies, andtranshumanism since transitioning. A collaboration with art critic and scholar Matthew Grimm @grimmxwu on Instagram, which investigates the intersections between Meta-Modernism and Post-Humanism, is now in the works.
Wu credits most of their inspiration to their mother Jean Carole Wu.[2] Their maternal grandmother Joan Davis was the head designer ofTai Ping CarpetsHong Kong in the 1960s.[3] Wu attendedHillfield Strathallan College and, in late 2009, they attended theUniversity of Toronto aiming to go into a career of sex therapy. They dropped out after one year.[4]
After creating their portfolio, they were accepted by theIstituto Marangoni, but deferred the offer to start their own company in September 2010. In 2011, they opened their first boutique in downtown Toronto.[4]
Wu learned to sew in 2009 after they dropped out of theUniversity of Toronto. Their first break was being offered a position atMuchMusic in April 2010 as a Fashion Correspondent, where they worked for half a year.[5] The same day that Wu was offered the position, they received an invitation to show their Fall Winter 2010 Collection atVancouver Fashion Week.[6] Wu was nineteen years old. They showed their very first time at Vancouver Fashion Week, which kick started their career as a fashion designer.[6] Wu participated in the Spring-Summer 2011 Collection at theNational Gallery of Canada during theOttawa Fashion Week in October 2010.[7] In the same month, they met Shawn Hewson ofProject Runway Canada through the Alumni Association of Hillfield Strathallan College.[3] Hewson mentored Wu for a year and introduced them to theFashion Design Council of Canada.[8] In 2009 artist Mehrnaz had illustrated a painting of one of Wu's earlier pieces.[9]
In November 2010, Wu was offered their first corporate collaboration, with The Allan Candy Co., based inHamilton, Ontario.[3] Wu was commissioned to create dresses out of Allan Candy wrappers for an online advertisement.[3] This was the first time Allan Candy had collaborated with a fashion designer and used the advertisement to launch its DOPS candy line.[10]
Quickly known as the 18-year-old-boy who modelled their own dresses,Prestel published Wu internationally in a book calledStyle Diaries: World Fashion from Berlin to Tokyo in February 2011.[3] The author, Simone Werle, featured Wu as "one of the most influential forces behind tomorrow's trends".[11]
In March 2011, R&B singer Keisha Chanté modelled Wu's dress in the Dare to Wear Love Fashion Show.[12] After the show, Wu's work was featured atTextile Museum of Canada as a part of Canada's first Fashion Exhibition, called Dare to Wear Love, in support of theStephen Lewis Foundation.[13]
At twenty-one, Wu debuted their Spring-Summer 2012 Collection, titled "Creatures of the Photons", atToronto Fashion Week; the collection featured dresses resembling "large testicles and penis shapes jutting".[14] Wu has been critiqued as having "remarkable silhouettes", as quoted by theOttawa Citizen.[15]Huffington Post said Wu had "dramatic and breathtaking designs."[16] Wu was also called "a fashion wunderkind" by both theOttawa Citizen andToronto Star.[17]
Wu had the opportunity to collaborate withMargaret Atwood at the Book Lovers Ball, hosted in support of theToronto Public Library in January 2012.[18] Wu created designs inspired by Atwood's 2011 bookIn Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination. Margaret tweeted that Wu is "a brilliant designer".[19] In March 2012, Wu was also involved with theHeart and Stroke Foundation of Canada in their annual event,The Heart Truth. Jessi Cruikshank,eTalk's host, modeled a Wu creation as event's opening dress.[20] Later that month,Canada's Got Talent host Dina Pugliese modeled Wu's custom designed dress for the 2012 Dare to Wear Love Fashion Show,[12] again serving as a fundraiser for the Steven Lewis Foundation.[21]
Wu has dressed celebrities such asJessi Cruickshank,Keshia Chanté, Dina Pugliese,Kreesha Turner, and Christine Avanti.[12][20][22]
Other publications which have covered Wu includeThe Globe and Mail,Flare,Fashion and theNational Post.[23][24][25][26] Other television news and fashion programs to cover WU includeFashionTelevision,CBC'sCreative Block andCNTV'sCulture Express.[27][28][29]
Wu designed a tutu for theNational Ballet of Canada's 60th anniversary celebration which is to be debuted late 2012. Wu has also recently been commissioned to their second corporate collaboration recently.[30] Wu was to create a dress out of Canadian companyKruger Inc.'s Cashmere toilet paper. Kruger planned to launch this "White Cashmere Collection" in September 2012.[31] Wu became a spokesperson forPerrier as an official social influencer in 2012.[32]
After Wu's debut atToronto Fashion Week in late 2011, Natalie Atkinson of theNational Post criticized them for "threads hanging from the seam" and sending "unabashedly hairy-legged boys" down the runway. She concluded the review with "...if Wu is earnest, I would urgently refer Wu to land an internship atComme des Garçons orMargiela".[14]
Fashion called Wu "overwrought",[25] whileFlare felt Wu's work contributed to "[o]ne of the most unforgettable shows we saw this season".[33]
In early 2012, Wu had their "Hierarchy of Needs" FW12 show at Toronto Fashion Week, which involved models wearingGuy Fawkes masks. This caused controversy, with theToronto Star stating that the "message baffles audience". Wu also caught the attention ofGawker, which questioned Wu's judgment for citing the groupAnonymous.[34]
In 2015, Wu came out asneutrois, a non-binary gender identity, and started going bythey/them pronouns.[35] In the following year, Wu wrote an article onMedium explaining the concept of being non-binary and how it differs greatly from other transgender identities.[36] They have since openly participated in the Trans Fusion drop-ins at the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto, advocating for the visibility of non-binary identities within the vast spectrum of gender diversity. During 2016, Wu posted video updates about their transition journey on their personalYouTube channel.[37][needs update] By no later than December 2017, Wu changed their first name to Adrienne.[38]
In 2015, Wu began advocating with Toronto'sSupporting Our Youth organization.
In 2011,Fashion reviewed Wu's debut collection saying it "...failed to impress". It added: "While the gowns themselves were quite striking in a palette of muted colours and constructed to Wu's signature voluminous style, it was not the focus of the audience, and apparently not that of its either. On more than a few pieces, faulty zippers and rogue hem threads stuck out like sore sartorial thumbs."[25]
In 2013, Canadian fashion ranking aggregate website Canadian-Fashion.ca rated Wu 2 out of 5 stars for their body of work.[39][40]
