Jean Yu’s work operates outside the temporal rhythms of fashion. Born in South Korea, Yu moved to New York from Los Angeles to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1990. She became best known for her soft yet architectural underclothes, which magically embrace femininity while eschewing traditional female tropes of lace and padding. She is meticulous in her craft and committed to every cut, as evidenced in the Overflow bodice (2015) created for Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial (2016). Achieving a sophisticated simplicity through strategic layering of transparent fabrics and dramatic cutting techniques, Yu emphasizes that one should feel nothing when wearing her work.
