There’s little doubt that American Born Chinese, the new series from Disney+ premiering later this month, will be must-see TV, what with three of its stars hailing from the much-loved, and many Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu all have roles in the genre-bending show, which is based on a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang that tells the story of an average California high schooler mixed up in a fight with Chinese mythological gods. Here’s another reason to tune in: In their first Hollywood project, the New York fashion designers Prabal Gurung and Phillip Lim have created costumes for two of the show’s main characters—Yeoh’s Goddess of Mercy Guanyin and Daniel Wu’s Monkey King.
Between them, Gurung and Lim have decades of experience designing for the runway and the red carpet, but they’re television newbies. These kind of hook-ups are actually quite rare, according to the show’s costume designer Joy Cretton, with whom they closely worked. It’s not just that a continent separates New York and LA, it’s that fashion show and TV show production cycles are so difficult to sync up.
But as outspoken members of the AAPI community—Gurung is a co-founder and board member of Goldhouse, a non-profit organization dedicated to investing in and promoting Asian Pacific leadership and cultural representation, and Lim has helped raise $7 million via the AAPI Community Fund to fight anti-Asian violence—they both believed they had something unique to bring to the project. Beyond, that is, Gurung’s experience dressing Yeoh for the Met Gala and other appearances. “I just thought this was such a beautiful, fun, graceful way of saying, as Asians and Asian-Americans, ‘we are here too,’” he explained. On a four-way Zoom, we talked about the collaboration. These are excerpts from that conversation
Phillip and Prabal, why did you want to get into this? Was it the subject matter? The production team? What was the attraction?
Phillip Lim: From a personal point of view, I’m always trying to see where I fit in, where I belong. Even in the fashion industry, it’s like, ‘oh, you’re Chinese, do you design Chinese fashions?’ Or, ‘oh, you’re American? Well, you don’t look, you know, blue eyed, blonde hair, whatever it is.’ I have always known the story of the Monkey King, there’s so many incarnations of it, but what’s interesting about this particular version was how do you make it about the Chinese American experience? Melvin Mar [the executive producer who brought the designers on board], he’s like, we need to come together as a community to ensure that this is reflective of what our experience is being Asian American. What was interesting to me was to really have agency over this narrative, to color it in in a way that felt modern while respecting tradition but also moving it forward.
Prabal Gurung: What I thought was really powerful was here’s an opportunity to bring attention to this particular story through Phillip’s reach, my own, Joy’s—all of us coming together to say, ‘hey, all we want is for you guys to see us, all we want is for you guys to hear our story.’
So, how does designing for TV differ from designing for a room full of editors and buyers at a fashion show?
PL: The aesthetics are so different. Our brand is rooted in reality, in functionality, and for this project, what was challenging was to push this kind of ostentatiousness, this gildedness. The Monkey King character that I focused on has these heavenly battle scenes, so it was interesting to use all these materials that are the opposite of what we would naturally work with and wear.
PG: For me, it was easy because I was creating for Michelle Yeoh’s character and it was pretty much in the realm of what I do, you know, floaty, beautiful. And I didn’t have to worry about the sales aspect of it, or the reviews. It was just the most fun. I used to sketch Wonder Woman’s costume, it felt like that.
Joy, have you done a lot of this, getting together with fashion designers, or is this a fairly unique situation?
Joy Cretton: It’s fairly unique. We always have these great ideas of... this would be cool to work on with fill in the blank, but those people have to be available to dedicate themselves to it. And we just move so fast. This is the first time it came to fruition because everybody was available.
The fashion show circuit doesn’t align with TV show production.
PL: That aspect of it, the timing, was surprising to me. Because, you know, with fashion we have to consider how the person wears it. And with film, it’s really about what it looks like image-wise. And also, how you have to turn things around in literally zero time.
JC: It’s a lot of cheating. Like, if you look at it from this angle, you guys would be horrified, but it looks perfect from the front!
It would be interesting to hear from you, Joy, what Prabal and Philip had to learn from you to get this to get this job done.
JC: Well, I think it was probably a little frustrating for them, I would imagine, because we just kind of disregard a lot of things, whereas if it was somebody buying it, it would have to be perfect. That kind of stuff could be frustrating to a perfectionist who makes beautiful clothing. Whereas we’re just trying to find out, like, where’s the camera? That’s where we’re going to focus and we’ll finish the back later because we have no time. You generally get the actor very late in the game. And from the point you fit them to when it plays is so small that you can be as prepared as you want but if it doesn’t work your window’s almost gone. We’re used to working in chaos, but that’s something these guys understand, which is great.
This was a new experience for you as fashion designers. Is there anything that you took away from the process or anything you learned?
PG: I’m always trying to find this idea of femininity and strength in my work. And to have someone like Michelle Yeoh, who has this uncompromised femininity but also that strength that she portrays, it felt like such a full-circle moment. Phillip and I, when we talk about [AAPI] representation or lack thereof, oftentimes we feel like Lone Rangers. Then this moment happens; it was powerful for both of us I would say.
PL: I’ve got to give a shout-out Joy. In our worlds, Prabal’s and mine, everything is through our eyes, everything is from our vantage point. Working with Joy, she has eyes on everything. It was a good lesson to understand the power of the clothes worn by the supporting characters. She’s dressing the whole cast and it was a reminder of the storytelling that happens there: how the fantasy creates reality and reality supports fantasy.
JC: I have a question. For me as a costume designer, one of my favorite moments is usually when an actor puts on their costume and gets into character. As fashion designers, when and how do you experience that?
PL: For me it’s when we do castings or fittings and the model comes in and they put their look on for the first time. You’re like ‘whoa.’
PG: It’s the freedom to be able to see and think of something and then sketch it and drape it and make it happen and it comes alive.
American Born Chinese premieres on May 24 on Disney+.
