Inspiring Conversations with Daisy Wang of DAWANG

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daisy Wang.

Hi Daisy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up between cultures — Chinese by heritage, California and New York by choice. DAWANG started as a personal frustration: I couldn’t find clothing that felt both authentically Chinese and genuinely wearable every day. Not costume, not occasion wear. Just clothes that held cultural meaning without asking you to explain yourself.So I made them. I started with brocade — a historically rich Chinese textile that most people only see at formal events — and asked: what if this lived on the street? What if it was in your everyday rotation?That question became DAWANG. Since 2019 we’ve been building a brand rooted in modern Chinese identity, through fabric, storytelling, and a community that looks like us and lives like us. Every collection, every collab, every event is an extension of that same original question.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Honestly, no. And I think anyone who tells you their brand journey was smooth is leaving something out.
Building DAWANG meant constantly working against the assumption that Chinese cultural fashion belongs in a costume shop or a holiday event. Convincing people that brocade could be streetwear, that heritage could be everyday — that took time. It still takes time sometimes.
Something people don’t always see is that DAWANG is a two woman operation. Me and my best friend Ab, our co-creative director, run everything. Customer service, marketing, PR, production coordination, events — all of it, just us. There is something really beautiful about that but it is also really hard. The weight of wearing every hat at once is real.
The financial reality of building independently without outside funding means every decision carries real weight too. But the hardest part has always been the in-between moments. The seasons where you’re not sure if what you’re building is landing. That uncertainty is the part that tests you most.
What keeps us going is the community. Every time someone wears a DAWANG piece and says it made them feel seen, that’s the reminder of why it matters.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about DAWANG?
DAWANG is a modern Chinese lifestyle brand based in New York, founded in 2019. We design everyday clothing and accessories rooted in Chinese cultural heritage, reimagined through a contemporary streetwear lens.What we’re known for is two things: introducing a modern Chinese aesthetic into everyday fashion, and our custom brocade textile development. We ask what Chinese style looks like when it lives on the street, not just at the dinner table or the holiday gathering. The answer shows up in every silhouette, every fabric choice, every detail we put into a collection.Our brocade work sits at the heart of that. One of the oldest and most significant fabrics in Chinese history, traditionally reserved for ceremony and formality. We took it off the pedestal and put it in your daily rotation, developing original patterns each season that translate cultural stories and motifs into something wearable, expressive, and alive.Beyond product, DAWANG is a community built through immersive events, cultural collaborations, and activations that bring people together around a shared identity. What sets us apart is the intention. We are not trend-chasing. We are not making Chinese culture a costume or a moment. We are building something the next generation can wear, live in, and be proud of every single day.What we are most proud of is the community that has grown around DAWANG. The people who come back season after season, who wear our pieces to their most important moments, who tell us DAWANG made them feel seen. That is the whole point.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Honestly, the thing that surprises people most when they find out is that DAWANG runs on two people. Me and Ab, my best friend and co-creative director. That’s the whole team.
People have been imagining a full operation behind the scenes. A marketing team, a PR agency, a customer service department, a production manager. Nope. Every single thing you have ever seen from DAWANG — every email, every event, every campaign, every collab, every workshop, every post, every fitting — has been handled by the two of us.
There is something I’m really proud of in that. Not because I think we should always stay small, but because it says something about what two people can build when they are fully committed to a vision. We have pulled off runway shows, brand partnerships, custom orders, pop-ups across cities, and an artist collab series with a two person team running on belief and a lot of late nights.
Most people find out and say they had no idea and can’t imagine how we manage everything. That’s the part that always makes me smile.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dawangnewyork.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawangnewyork/

Image Credits
Photos by Ally Wei, Cheng Gong, Karla Tomanelli