01DESIGNER / CREATIVE DIRECTOR

LEONARD
WONG

I began with clothing, exploring the relationship between the body and form.

Structure, material, movement and the space around them have always been where my work begins. Today, that inquiry is gradually extending into image, sound and objects.

02ORIGIN

Clothing taught me to think from the body.

A single seam can change a silhouette; a material can change a posture. Wrapping, supporting, restraining and releasing all happen where the body meets the work.

That is where my interest in structure began.

03INTERVAL

INTERVAL

Stepping away from the rhythm of continuous collections gave me more time to observe.

Some ideas only become clear through making them again and again; others need to be set aside for a while. This interval helped me understand my own work anew, and led me to try different ways of expressing it.

04PRESENT

Now, I want to give an idea the room it needs to unfold.

It might become a garment, or continue into a film, an object, or a scene made of sound and light. The medium depends on how the work needs to be perceived.

The connections between these forms are what I want to keep exploring.

05PRINCIPLES

START FROM THE BODY.Pay attention to how a work shapes posture, movement and feeling.
LET STRUCTURE SPEAK.Silhouette, connection and material together form the language of the work.
THINK THROUGH MAKING.Find the precise form through testing, adjusting and remaking.
LEAVE ROOM FOR CHANGE.Let the work keep developing across media and ways of seeing.

06PROFILE

LEONARD WONG

Born in Shanghai and based in Japan. Graduated from Bunka Fashion College, Tokyo, in 2013 and began working under his own name that year, later founding LEONARD WONG. His work has been presented in Paris and on the runways of Tokyo and Shanghai Fashion Weeks; his art films have been selected by international fashion film programmes and screened on a public outdoor screen in Shinjuku, Tokyo. After pausing continuous collections in 2018, he resumed creating in 2026, extending LEONARD WONG into a multidisciplinary practice.

1986
Born in Shanghai.
2010
Moves to Tokyo and enters Bunka Fashion College.
2012
Wins the Tokyo New Designer Fashion Grand Prix with CAPTIVITY, plus the Air France Award and the Minister of Education Prize.
2013
Graduates and begins creating under his own name.
2014
Establishes LEONARD WONG Co., Ltd.; the film THE NAIL is named a Top 10 winner at the Guggenheim Museum’s World Fashion Film.
2015
First presentation in Paris.
2016
Fashion art film ALCHEMY with AyaBambi.
2016
Debuts at Tokyo Fashion Week with BLACK BOX at Shibuya Hikarie, presenting the Spring/Summer 2017 collection.
2018
Presents the Autumn/Winter 2018 collection at Shanghai Fashion Week under the theme “Multiverse”, bringing fashion and performance together.
2018
After that season, stops presenting collections on a continuous cycle.
2019
Art film MULTIVERSE screened on the YUNIKA VISION outdoor screen in Shinjuku, Tokyo, bringing the work into public urban space.
2026
Resumes creating.

—RECOGNITION

Awards & Selections

2012: Tokyo New Designer Fashion Grand Prix — Grand PrixBunka Fashion College Fashion Contest — Women’s Category AwardAir France AwardMinister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Prize
2013: Bunka Fashion College Design AwardMUSE × VOGUE Talent Vision Award — Best 100China International Fashion Designers Creation Contest — Art Technology Award
2014: Guggenheim Museum, World Fashion Film — Top 10 (THE NAIL)
2016: SHOWstudio — Top 15 Most Played (ALCHEMY)
2019: Copenhagen Art Fashion Film Festival — Best Selection (ALCHEMY)