Emerging fashion label Commission dreams of Europe

Dylan Cao and Jin Kay are the founders of the New York based-label, Commission. The former is originally from Vietnam, the latter from South Korea. Both immigrated to the United States as children. Revealed in 2020 with their nomination for the LVMH Prize, the duo redefine the visual language of East Asian culture in the fashion industry, fighting against the stereotypes and clichés conveyed by Western culture. Inspired as much by the retro culture of the 70s and 80s in Asia as by the photographic work of Bruce Gilden or Martin Parr, they recently won over Sir Paul Smith with their first collaboration. Now, the duo is dreaming of Europe.  

FashionNetwork: Six years after your launch, Commission has established itself as one of the major emerging brands in the United States. Was it urgent for you to create Commission?
 
J.K: When we met in 2018, we were both working for other design houses in New York. We realized there weren’t many designers or brands referencing Asia in a sophisticated and respectful way. Often, Asian culture and fashion were seen through a Westernized lens, focusing on traditional motifs and costumes or falling into caricature and cliché. We knew we could convey a more personal perspective, as designers who grew up in Asia and later moved to the States. I guess in that sense, there was an urgency in creating a brand like Commission because we felt it was crucial to offer a more authentic and honest representation of our heritage sooner rather than later.
 
FNW: Your brand is helping to erase stereotypes about Asian culture in fashion. Have things progressed since then? 
 
D.C: Progress is an interesting term. While there’s definitely been more representation of Asian culture across various platforms, the real measure of progress is whether this representation is meaningful and nuanced. With Commission, our mission is focusing on authentic storytelling and design that reflects our genuine experiences and heritage. Being nuanced is very important to us. You can see this in our casting and design narratives. In the creative realm, an increase in Asian cultural representation can sometimes be a double-edged sword, where quite many brands and creatives are leaning into stereotypes to achieve visibility, which is almost the opposite of what we aim to do.

FNW: How do you divide up the roles?
 
J.K: For over two years, the two of us have been managing Commission together, with the help of a few friends and ex-colleagues who are freelancers. Despite being a small team, we are both deeply involved in every aspect of the process and daily operations. I and Dylan simultaneously switch between creative and logistical tasks, with one handling one aspect while the other manages another. However, all business and creative decisions are made collaboratively, and this has been our approach since the beginning. Creatively, Dylan tends to be more practical, precise, and incremental, while my approach is more playful and experimental. We believe this balance creates a strong synergy in our work.

FNW: Apart from childhood memories, where do you draw your inspiration from? 
 
J.K: Initially, we drew inspiration from the everyday fashion of people in Asia during the 1970s and 1980s—such as our parents’ and friends’ family photos, as well as Japanese photographers like George Hashiguchi and Keizo Kitajima. As our brand language has developed, our sources of inspiration have become more complex. We now also explore the fashion of ordinary people in America, photographing people in the city ourselves (we keep a secret Instagram account of them), drawing from Western photographers such as Bruce Gilden, Martin Parr, and Tina Barney. By blending references from both our past and present, we aim to capture our unique experience as first-generation immigrants fitting into American culture. This emphasis on our nuanced experience, particularly the process of ‘assimilation’, is central to Commission’s future direction. It’s a complex idea that we find very compelling and are excited to continue exploring.
 
FNW: You were shortlisted for the LVMH Prize in 2020. Was this a real springboard for getting your name out there? 
 
J.K: Being shortlisted for the LVMH Prize was a pleasant surprise, especially after only three seasons since launching the brand. The recognition and support we received were invaluable, and it was our first chance to showcase a collection in person in Paris. 
 
D.C: I think being in Paris was crucial for us, thanks to LVMH, as it allowed us to connect with key industry figures and gain visibility in the fashion community. It also helped broaden our network and gave us the opportunity to present our brand’s narrative in person to a welcoming European audience. Looking back, it significantly helped us persevere through the challenging two years of the pandemic by giving us this prolonged visibility to buyers and customers internationally.
 
FNW: You launched Commission with your first women’s collection, followed by your men’s collections. Was it natural to launch things in that order?
 
J.K: We initially launched with womenswear because that was where we both had the most experience. When Ssense reached out to us in 2020, suggesting support for launching a men’s collection, we felt it was the right moment to expand. Menswear had always been a crucial part of our design language, but we thought having menswear means more investment and capital. So with the right support, it made sense to introduce it at that time. We also started to feel an itch to design things that we would like to wear ourselves, since we quite particular and couldn’t relate to most products out there. Adding menswear allowed us to further explore our full creative range and connect with a broader audience, deepening our brand’s narrative and identity.

FNW: As for the men’s collections, you recently collaborated with Sir Paul Smith. How did this collection come about?
 
J.K: Paul Smith and his foundation wanted to collaborate with an American designer for his first collaboration outside of London. The CFDA nominated us as potential candidates, and we were fortunate that Sir Paul Smith chose Commission. We both shared a mutual admiration for product-driven designs. During our first meeting, we discovered that our design references from mundane and ordinary elements mixed with a professional approach to dressing, were quite similar. We had this idea of revisiting a few of Paul’s collections from the late 1990s and early 2000s, and merging elements of British Punk with Japanese salary men.  
 
FNW: A few days ago, you launched your Spring 2025 collection on Instagram, entitled ‘American Dream?’. Could you explain the philosophy behind this collection and the tone you wanted to set?
 
D.C: There was a humorous incident with the title of our Spring 2025 collection. Someone on Instagram thought we were making a definitive statement about the “American dream”, but it’s actually phrased as a question. Our intention was to question what’s considered proper or improper when trying to fit into the American culture as immigrants, what makes up that “American dream”. For example, many garments feature permanent creases reminiscent of pre-packaged clothing from Walmart or Target, which symbolizes part of the American dream that I, personally, experienced when I first moved to New York, thinking that shopping at Target was the quintessential American experience. We’re also riffing on the Ivy League and the “WASP” way of dressing, since those are important archetypes of being upper class and elitist. From a distance, these clothes might seem to fit well, but up close, they’re distorted and twisted to fit certain body types. This creates a tone that’s both serious and ironic, beautiful yet somewhat unappealing.
 
FNW: Yet America is a dream for new generations… 
 
D.C: It’s fascinating to see how American culture often serves as a benchmark for many around the world, reflecting a broader global trend. I’ve always found it quite fascinating how we, as a brand, tend to draw inspiration from Asia for our storytelling, while many brands from Asia aspire to emulate Western influences. I think it’s often easier to dream about something when you’re somewhat detached from its reality. Our experiences here, including issues with accurate representation and diversity, have strengthened our commitment to addressing these issues through our work and propelling it more unapologetically than if we were to start from Vietnam or Korea.

FNW: How is the brand received abroad? 
 
J.K: We’re aware that Commission has gained traction on Chinese social media and that celebrities in both the U.S. and Europe are wearing our brand. Seeing people on the street wearing Commission is also incredibly rewarding for us, as we are deeply invested in creating quality products. While our American and Asian markets have been growing over the past few seasons, we are also aiming to strengthen our presence and expand in the European market.
 
FNW: You’re an emerging brand. How are you financially supported today? 
 
D.C: We remain independent because our goal has always been to grow gradually. We didn’t seek rapid expansion. Instead, we focused on building a solid foundation first. Now that foundation is established, we’re feeling more ready to consider expanding into new categories and opportunities.
 
FNW: How are you distributed today? 
 
J.K: We are working with about 15 global retailers at the moment. Around half is online retailers and rest are brick-in-mortar stores.