Sandy Liang is a
fashion label based in
New York City. Founded in 2014 by Sandy Liang, its designs are inspired by nostalgia, girlhood, and grandmothers in
Chinatown.
Founder
Sandy Liang was born on June 4, 1991, in New York City and grew up in
Flushing, Queens, with a brother and a pet
Chihuahua.[1][2] She briefly studied architecture at the
Rhode Island School of Design before transferring to
Parsons School of Design to study fashion design. Her father founded a restaurant in
Manhattan Chinatown called Congee Village in 1996, when Liang was six. She frequently spent time at the restaurant after school.[3][1] Her family restaurant and Chinatown in general serve as major design inspirations for her brand.[1]
Liang met Dorian Booth, an architect, in 2016. They married in 2023.[4]
History
Liang launched her fashion label, Sandy Liang, in 2014, after graduating from Parsons. She was inspired by the style of grandmothers in
Chinatown,[5][2] and engaged her grandmother to model a collection of oversized coats.[6] The brand's first collection was released in fall/winter 2014.[7] In spring/summer 2015, the brand held a runway show at Liang's family restaurant.[1]
In 2018, Liang was featured in
Forbes 30 Under 30 in the category of art and design.[8] In 2019, the label released a line of
leopard-print fleece jackets inspired by hand-me-downs of Liang's childhood.[1]The New York Times described it as the "hottest jacket at
New York Fashion Week".[9] The success of the jacket led to the label's first fashion show in September 2019.[5] In 2020, the brand opened a flagship retail store in the
Lower East Side of
Manhattan.[10]
In 2022, Sandy Liang released its first footwear line, taking inspiration from the aesthetics of
ballet to create a cross between a
Mary Jane and a
pointe shoe.[11] The release was highly successful, even taking pre-orders for restocks.[5] In spring 2023, the brand released a version of the shoe in mesh,[12] and their first bridal collection in the same year.[13]
Sandy Liang's style has been associated with 2020s design trends like
gorpcore,[3]balletcore, and coquette, and compared with designers such as
Simone Rocha and
Miu Miu; Harper's Bazaar compared the brand's cult following to that of the streetwear brand
Supreme.[14][5] Its collections often feature
ribbon-bow motifs, which was noted as a trend in both fashion and
interior design in the spring and summer of 2023.[15][16] Several of the brand's collections are inspired by different elements of founder Liang's girlhood such as Hello Kitty and hand-me-down clothing.[1] In an interview, Liang cited the film
Marie Antoinette and the work of
Sofia Coppola as a major influence.[17]
Sandy Liang collaborated with
Warby Parker in 2019,[18]Away and
Target in 2021,[19][20] and
Vans in 2020[21] and 2022.[22] In 2023, the brand collaborated with
Salomon to create a line of sneakers.[23][24] In 2023, Sandy Liang collaborated with the dog clothing brand Little Beast on a line of fleeces and knitted sweaters for
dogs.[25] The brand also created its first line of
homeware that year, including a
doormat and a
carpet runner as well as a variety of
underwear and
loungewear.[26]