The CFDA hosted a webinar in recognition of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month to highlight the challenges that foreign students and young professionals face when entering the American fashion industry, and to discuss the opportunities and resources available to them to ensure they can integrate and fully contribute to this diverse ecosystem of professionals.
A core pillar of CFDA’s mission is to work with students and young professionals through our various educational initiatives and professional development programs. We recognize that many students and graduates who are entering the industry come from Asian countries. According to the U.S. Census, Parsons School of Design has an enrollment of approximately 3,800 undergraduate students and 400 graduate students. About one third of the college is made up of international students hailing from 68 different countries. The largest international group comes from Asia.
With a large demographic of API students and young professional coming to the United States to pursue degrees in Fashion and seek employment, how is our industry supporting them? What efforts are being made by the government, schools, employers to not only ensure they can legally study and work but to support their cultural and social needs?
We were grateful to be joined by a panel of industry professionals who shared their personal and professional experiences, resources, and information available to the AAPI community:
Yayi Chen, Designer and Knitwear Developer
DooRi Chung, Faculty, Marist
Joo Han, Deputy Director, Asian American Federation
Isabel Hidrobo, Attorney
Uyen Tran, Founder and Creative Director, TômTex
Melissa Magsaysay, Journalist, Author and Head of Content at thirteen lune.
Watch the full conversation above and use to links below to access the resources discussed:
Mental Health
AAF: Mental Health Resources for the AAPI Community
Mental Health Coalition – Resources for the AAPI Community
MINDFUL – Raising awareness around the importance of mental health in the AAPI Community
Safety
Anti-Asian Bias Reporting Form
If you have experienced a physical assault, physical menacing, vernal harassment/name-calling, being barred from an establishment or transportation, workplace discrimination, shunning, or other forms of racial bias, please tell the Asian American Federation your story. They do not share your personal information with law enforcement or immigration. Your reporting will not put you at risk for deportation or affect your ability to apply for a green card or citizenship.
Virtual Physical Defense Workshop
In response to the persistent anti-Asian hate attacks, the Asian American Federation has partnered with the Center for Anti-Violence Education to offer a Virtual Physical Self-Defense Workshop in English and various Asian languages to equip Asian New Yorkers with strategies to keep themselves safe in the streets.
Stay Safe from Hate safety booklet in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese that outlines verbal and physical self-defense strategies that people can use to keep themselves safe in the streets.
Self-Defense Strategies to Keep Yourself Safe in the Streets demonstrate several physical self-defense strategies that people can employ if they ever find themselves targeted in public spaces.
Addressing Anti-Asian Violence
AAF’s NYC Mayoral Forum a forum we held with the top 6 candidates to discuss how they’ll address anti-Asian violence and other issues important to the Asian American community.
A Year of Hate: Where Do We Go From Here? a panel the AAF held in conversation with other safety experts on how to address anti-Asian violence.
