When she started art school in her native Beijing, Snow Xue Gao was such a fashion neophyte that she didn’t know who Coco Chanel was. “I thought I was going to be an architect or an artist,” says the 25-year-old, who now counts Dries Van Noten and Martin Margiela as influences. An assignment that involved filling sliced-open produce with shredded fabric sparked an interest in textiles, and a fashion design competition convinced her to rethink her focus. Eventually, she landed in Parsons’s Fashion Design and Society M.F.A. program, from which she graduated last year. She’s since shown her fall collection at New York Fashion Week, as part of VFiles Runway; gained a superfan in Rihanna; and opened a studio in Manhattan’s Garment District. Here, get a closer look at the designer’s Spring 2018 collection, which showed at New York Fashion Week.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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Models at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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Models at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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Models at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A view of backstage at the Snow Xue Gao presentation during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Toth/Getty Images)
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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Models get ready at backstage before the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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Models at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
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A model at the Snow Xue Gao Spring Summer 2018 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Getty Images.
