The New York Times
“Wearing a Shao black tuxedo with legs long enough to hide her ankle monitor and shoulders encrusted with rhinestones... The tux was something of a preview of the collection, which had a Gaultier-meets-Off-White vibe in black and white and highlighter yellow. Ms. Yang... graduated from Parsons and has spent the last nine years running the Tailory, a custom suit company. She knows what she is doing.”
The Washington Post
“Yang, a Parsons graduate, has been doing custom tailoring for years, but this is the first collection she has made under her own name. Each look was equal parts masculine and feminine: elements of corsetry, traditional men's suiting, streetwear and athleisure, in equal parts. Black and white with pops of highlighter neon yellow.”
The Guardian
“The show’s stylist, Jules Wood ... described the designs as Jean Paul Gaultier meets Blade Runner via fine tailoring. Wood said the show nearly didn’t come off. ‘Vivienne would have approved – a bit guerilla with a fuck-you kind of attitude.’”
“‘We called the show Danger Zone,’ Shao Yang, the designer, said. ‘It’s old New York, fun and spontaneous, the 80s, with the culture, inclusivity, diversity, everything.’”
Forbes
“Shao Yang has been a fashion designer for over a decade in New York City, but now is her time to shine... This new collection is a standout that brings together two traditional structures in fashion—the corset and tailored suiting. ‘Marrying the two techniques is what you will see on the runway,’ said Yang.”
“The main draw was the clothes. Specifically, the fluorescent green pantsuit. Pinstripes were a major highlight, so were white dresses, hand-painted jackets, white stripes, and someone’s dog that was dyed cotton candy pink. There was a lot of love that was put into this show—mainly the garments—and that was something you could feel from a mile away.”
CNN Style
“‘Anybody can wear it,’ Yang had told us. ‘You could be a man or a woman, nonbinary, anywhere on the gender spectrum.’ ... Each look was equal parts masculine and feminine: elements of corsetry, traditional men’s suiting, streetwear and athleisure, in equal parts. Black and white with pops of highlighter neon yellow.”
Daily Mail
“Amid the hundreds of catwalk shows making up this year's New York Fashion Week was one which, despite its somewhat down-at-heel location, has become the talk of the town. All eyes were fixed, not so much on the models wearing outfits by emerging U.S. designer Shao Yang.”
People Magazine
“Though there was certainly some star power in the names behind the show ... everything felt a bit like a grassroots production that was being pieced together on the fly. (Aside from Yang's designs, which were flawless.)”
“Yang, who specializes in tailored suiting, created her collection inspired by the '80s... ‘I'm an '80s baby, so everything I do has a little bit of that to it,’ she says. ‘You see that in the color and in the silhouette, and everything is wearable.’ ... ‘It was cool, chaotic and very New York,’ Yang tells PEOPLE.”
New York Post
“The literally elevated presentation revived a certain edgy energy once de rigueur in the long-ago gentrified neighborhood and during early fashion weeks — in stark contrast to the cookie cutter runway shows now favored by big brands.”
“Playing with juxtaposed gender stereotypes, delicately embellished midi skirts with boned bodices were paired with rigid collared shirts, while traditionally conservative suit jackets were cropped and styled with ultra-high rise trousers.”
Page Six
“Designer Yang ran a bespoke suiting atelier before putting together her first collection, and told us that she was immediately taken with the idea... ‘As a young brand, we need to think outside the box,’ she said.”
ARTnews
“About 75 people trooped up the five flights to cram into the black plastic card chairs on the rooftop. Dozens more waited outside in a zigzag line on the sidewalk, giving the gathering a decidedly ’90s feel.”
“The show took place with ominous clouds overhead, a warbly sound system and the glittering downtown skyscape... Overall, it was an eclectic, meta event that will go down in the fashion history books as strange, surprising and nonsensical.”
W Magazine
“A New Class of Asian Designers Takes the Spotlight at New York Fashion Week. Shao New York designer Shao Yang generated a healthy amount of buzz.”
Grazia
“The first runway show for Taiwanese-born, NYC-based designer Shao Yang. The result was something of a guerrilla street fashion exhibit on First Avenue, as attendees, passersby, and neighbours clamoured against each other in the rain to get their first glimpse of the models.”
Dazed
“The genderless collection featured swathes of denim, crossed vests, blazers with attached overlaid bustiers, cropped trousers, and impeccably tailored suits. Saturated with a punk insouciance, the clothing nodded to Yang’s love of the 80s and her Brooklyn roots, often very literally – once with a ‘Brooklyn’ emblazoned hoodie – while modernising Western aesthetics with cross-stitched denim and shoulder-padded vests.”
“Slick, wearable, yet decidedly cool and unattainable – the collection bore all the signature characteristics of a decidedly New York uniform.”
Interview Magazine
“She started out as a Parsons graduate in tailoring and she somehow became, as a non-gay person, an LGBTQA pioneer in bespoke suitings, with a very strong percentage of it being gay women.”
L’Officiel
“The guest list is assumed to be exclusive, especially given the limited amount of space, with only a handful of fashion editors currently known to be receiving invitations. ‘As a young brand, we need to think outside the box,’ designer Yang expressed...”
Reserved Magazine
“Born in Taiwan, designer Shao Yang moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was just five years old ... with the monumental 2023 debut of SHAO, a powerfully sexy and strong ready-to-wear line, Yang is poised to become the newest thought leader in the realm of genderless fashion, suiting, and style.”
