Lilian Liu has been working in sustainable fashion for a decade. With a background in partnerships – previously at the United Nations in public policy and sustainability – she is currently a sustainability strategist for Futerra, a change agency and B-Corporation. The role positions her to work with influential brands in order to shape their vision around sustainability.  

There are no true criteria or qualifications for those who celebrate or should be recognized during Asian American Pacific Heritage Month. Liu’s background demonstrates her global citizen persona: Swedish-Chinese, she has called New York her home for the past seven years. Her work with brands takes her to all areas of the world.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your career within sustainability.

In 2012, I had just gotten my bachelor degree and pursued an internship in China. I didn’t want a typical commercial or corporate job so I thought, “How can I do a job that has impact associated?” I joined sustainable fashion NGO Redress and we were part of launching the sustainability movement in China. At the time, sustainability wasn’t so established as it is today. We organised some of the first sustainable fashion shows in Shanghai. At Redress, we focused on sustainable design education by going into schools all over the country and sharing techniques such as zero waste and reconstruction to fashion students.

A former colleague of mine at the UN Global Compact and I had the idea to start Fauna – a sustainable fashion e-commerce startup based in Rio, Brazil. Through Fauna, we wanted to challenge ourselves and figure out how to make sustainability accessible. 

Backing up…how was it growing up in Sweden? How did you and your family decide to live in Sweden?

My parents are from Shanghai and moved to Sweden in the late 70s. I was born in Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden. I spent every summer since I was 2 years old in Shanghai. I was lucky to travel a lot around Europe when in high school with this organisation I was involved with, and during my undergrad I spent a year as an exchange student in France. I had a pretty international upbringing.

Sweden isn’t the most diverse country in the world and quite segregated. I didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me in Sweden. My parents did have a tight knit Chinese community growing up that I didn’t feel that close to. They were mainly my parents’ friends. 

How has your heritage and upbringing in different countries shaped the person you are today? 

In China, they have these national exams. You see, at the time, everyone was poor.  My dad loved to read and happened to score very high on the national exam – and the year he took the test, the Chinese government had started to send students abroad for the first time. My grandmother told me that he would read books under the street lights after dark. It was a small miracle because China had decided to open its borders in 1978 so he was in one of the first groups of people who were told to move to Sweden. At the time, no Chinese aside from diplomats could travel.

How did your journey living in the U.S. start? 

I had the opportunity to go to school in the U.S. when I received a scholarship for my master’s degree. New York is quite a specific place in America that has this weird magnetism and so much diversity.

Here, I don’t have to be a chameleon – or change my color to fit in. Throughout my travels, I’ve always felt like a chameleon. That’s what I do to survive to adapt to where I am. It’s both good and bad. You lose a bit of yourself but get good at connecting with different types of people whether that be related to class/ethnicity, etc.

The thing about NYC is you are embraced here. Talking about race, heritage, or culture here is very different from Europe or Asia. I didn’t really tell people I was Swedish-Chinese before. I became more comfortable with that part of me while living in New York.

As a consultant, how do you advise others to be thoughtful about culture as they incorporate it into their own works?

 In two key perspectives:

• Cultural sensitivity is more important than ever. Gen Z is the most diverse generation ever. A Pew Research Center study found that 48% of post-millennials identify as being from a community of color. It’s much more diverse than previous generations. Brands need to really think about culture, diversity and inclusion if they want to reach these consumers.
• Sometimes people get so scared about cultural appropriation that they stop looking to culture. It is important to give recognition, as well as be authentic to that culture and heritage versus stereotyping.

I’ve been seeing much of this built in design bias for example: Cars are built for men. Crash test dummies are designed as male dummies. That means that women are at much higher risk to be seriously injured in a car accident (47 percent more likely in fact), because their bodies weren’t considered in the design. This systemic bias is a failure to consider diversity, culture and who you are designing for.

Japanese companies are very good at designing for the elderly. Japan has a hyper-aging population where their thinking of design is really interesting. They are making adapted shampoo bottles with bigger text that are easy to open – they have a cultural sensitivity and they build that into design. 

What is the new normal you hope to see for Asian-Americans?

When I was young, I was embarrassed about my heritage. I didn’t look like the other kids. But now, I’m proud of who I am and I feel very lucky to have experienced so many worlds growing up.

What I hope to see for Asian-Americans – and for everyone really – is a world where people are treated equally, with equal opportunity and where we are proud of who we are. With COVID-19 and the racism surrounding it, this is more relevant than ever. I hope that future generations are proud of their heritage – treating it as a source of strength, not a weakness.