陳昱璇在台北長大，和台灣的山與海保持著一種若即若離的關係。城市長大的她，和那片地景也許不算親近，但島嶼的山形與光影，卻悄悄養成她看待材質與結構的方式。
進入紐約之後，這份滲進原生土地的美學眼光沒有消失，反而成為她在高壓節奏裡最穩的視覺座標。帶著這份直覺，她先後進入 Pratt Institute 與 Fashion Institute of Technology 深造，把感性鍛造成可以執行的工作利器。
Raised in Taipei, Stephanie Yu-Hsuan Chen grew up with a distant yet enduring connection to Taiwan’s mountains and coastline. Though she was shaped more by city life than nature itself, the island’s shifting landscapes and subtle light quietly informed the way she understands material, proportion, and structure.
After moving to New York, that sensitivity never faded; instead, it became one of the most grounding visual references within the intensity of the fashion industry.
Guided by this instinct, she pursued her studies at Pratt Institute and later at Fashion Institute of Technology, refining her artistic intuition into a skill set rooted in execution, precision, and industry knowledge.
用理性定義熱情
Defining Passion Through Precision
當多數人將時尚理解為草圖與靈感，陳昱璇將重心放在生產與成本之間，處理那些不具浪漫想像、卻真正決定成衣形貌的細節。她習慣在設計過程問自己：這件衣服誰會穿？如果裙擺結構讓人無法坐下，那它還算一件好衣服嗎？「我希望我的衣服是有目的地活在某個人的衣櫃裡，被穿出去、被看見、被認出來。」功能性與產品的生命力，是她始終不願鬆動的原則，也讓她將職涯重心逐步轉向產品開發與生產管理。
在以極簡剪裁著稱的紐約高端設計師品牌 Narciso Rodriguez 任職期間，她貼近設計發展的流程，參與材質採購與工坊協作，看見一個系列如何被一步步建立起來。「我後來才明白，秀場上的那件衣服，其實是無數個看不見的決定累積出來的。」之後在高端女裝品牌 Prabal Gurung 的實習經驗，更讓陳昱璇看見創意與執行間的可能性；一件衣服是否能成立，關鍵不只在發想本身，更考驗設計師是否願意承擔後續執行的責任。
While many people associate fashion with sketches and inspiration, Chen focused instead on the space between production and cost—the unromantic realities that ultimately determine how a garment comes to life. Throughout the design process, she constantly asks herself practical questions: Who is going to wear this? If the structure of a skirt prevents someone from sitting comfortably, can it still be considered good design?
“I want my garments to exist in someone’s wardrobe with purpose—to be worn, noticed, and remembered,” she says.
Functionality and longevity have remained central to her philosophy, gradually leading her career toward product development and production management.
During her time at the minimalist luxury label Narciso Rodriguez, Chen worked closely within the design development process, participating in material sourcing and atelier collaboration while observing how a collection is built step by step.
“I eventually realized that every garment on the runway is really the accumulation of countless invisible decisions.”
Her later experience interning at Prabal Gurung further deepened her understanding of the relationship between creativity and execution. A design’s success, she learned, depends not only on the originality of the idea, but also on the designer’s willingness to take responsibility for bringing it fully into reality.
第七大道上的精準校準
Precision and Balance on Seventh Avenue
LAPOINTE，是讀懂陳昱璇的那把鑰匙。這個活躍於紐約時裝週的高端女裝品牌，作品長期進駐 Harrods、Net-a-Porter 等頂級通路。陳昱璇所處的位置，正好落在設計與生產的交界。她需要同時面對設計團隊、打版師與海外廠商，讓一件衣服在抵達貨架時，仍能保有最初的設計意圖。「我覺得我就是站在創意跟現實中間的那個人。一件衣服從有想法到真的做出來，每個細節都要到位，沒有妥協的空間。」
除了設計，她同時也負責成本判斷。「我很清楚，對數字的掌握，是我能把創意帶進現實的底氣。」在紐約第七大道時裝產業的心臟地帶，幕後的工作很少被看見。留下來的，是那件進入 Harrods 的衣服，以及它「如何」被完成的細緻工序。
To understand Stephanie Yu-Hsuan Chen, one must understand LAPOINTE.
The New York luxury womenswear label, long featured at New York Fashion Week and carried by retailers such as Harrods and Net-a-Porter, became the place where Chen found herself positioned directly between design and production.
Her role requires constant coordination between designers, patternmakers, and overseas manufacturers, ensuring that each garment still reflects the original creative vision by the time it reaches the retail floor.
“I see myself as the person standing between creativity and reality,” she explains. “From the moment an idea is conceived to the moment the garment is finished, every detail has to be exact. There’s no room for compromise.”
Beyond design, Chen is also deeply involved in cost analysis and production strategy.
“I know very clearly that understanding numbers is what gives me the confidence to bring creativity into the real world.”
In the heart of New York’s Seventh Avenue fashion industry, much of the work behind the scenes goes unnoticed. What remains visible is the finished garment hanging inside Harrods—and the meticulous process required to make it possible.
FORMOSA：台灣給她的，她還給世界
FORMOSA: Giving Taiwan Back to the World
但陳昱璇的故事，不只發生在第七大道上。FORMOSA，是她以台灣文化為核心發展的個人服裝系列，一件放在心裡很久的事，並且用自己的步調慢慢完成。系列名稱取自台灣的古稱「Ilha Formosa」，意為美麗之島。她從島嶼的山海地景、歷史與文化裡梳理線索，把那些深植記憶的片段帶進設計，讓作品在國際語境中，仍能娓娓道出自己從哪裡來。
在FORMOSA的服裝系列，陳昱璇將台灣文化裡承載避邪與祝願的「玉」，轉譯進金屬細節與服裝結構裡，成為貼近身體的一種存在。「我想把保護這件事放進衣服裡。你穿上它，它就是你的護甲。那種力量不需要讓人看見，但你自己知道它在。」於是，那些集體意念，隨著身體移動，被感受，也被記住。2026 年，FORMOSA 拿下法國時尚獎白金獎。
對她來說，那份認可帶來的，不只是成績。她說：「紐約這座城市從不等人，但能從八百多萬人中走出來、代表台灣站上國際舞台，對我意義重大。」這份驕傲，驅動著她繼續往前。「我希望我的作品能讓更多人被看見——讓那些曾經覺得自己不符合傳統成功定義的人，有勇氣為自己發聲。」
紐約給了陳昱璇一套高度理性、放眼全球市場的設計語言，台灣則給了她值得述說的故事與內容。這是她最貼近自身的一次創作，也是她與這座島嶼之間，最清楚的一次對話……
But Stephanie Yu-Hsuan Chen’s story extends beyond Seventh Avenue.
FORMOSA, her personal fashion label rooted in Taiwanese culture, is a project she carried within her for years before bringing it to life at her own pace. The name comes from “Ilha Formosa,” the historic Portuguese name for Taiwan, meaning “beautiful island.”
Drawing from Taiwan’s landscapes, history, and cultural memory, Chen weaves fragments of the island into her designs, allowing her work to speak clearly about where it comes from—even within an international fashion context.
Within the FORMOSA collection, she reinterprets jade—long regarded in Taiwanese culture as a symbol of protection and blessing—through metal detailing and garment structure, transforming it into something physically close to the body.
“I wanted to place the idea of protection into clothing,” she says. “When you wear it, it becomes your armor. That strength doesn’t need to be visible to others—you simply know it’s there.”
In this way, collective memory and cultural symbolism move with the body, becoming something both felt and remembered.
In 2026, FORMOSA received the Platinum Award at a French fashion competition. For Chen, the award carried meaning far beyond professional success.
“New York is a city that never waits for anyone,” she reflects. “To stand out among more than eight million people and represent Taiwan on an international stage means everything to me.”
That sense of pride continues to drive her forward.
“I hope my work allows more people to feel seen—especially those who have never felt that they fit within traditional definitions of success. I want them to feel empowered to speak for themselves.”
If New York gave Stephanie Yu-Hsuan Chen a highly rational, globally minded design language, Taiwan gave her the stories worth telling. FORMOSA is perhaps her most personal body of work to date—a clear and deeply intimate conversation between herself and the island that shaped her.
Discover FORMOSA：https://www.instagram.com/its.formosa/
