Black and white photograph of multiple ornate picture frames arranged in a row, each containing bold white Asian calligraphy characters on a dark background, creating a layered visual effect.
Three framed prints featuring stylized Asian characters and English text on black backgrounds, arranged in a row on a textured wall with soft lighting.

SHAO x CHiNGLiSH WANG

MiSREADiNG

AAPI Heritage Month 2026

Language is never still.

For AAPI Heritage Month, SHAO and CHiNGLiSH WANG came together to present MiSREADiNG, a limited collaborative capsule exploring bilingual graphics, cultural play, and the productive charge of mistranslation.

The collaboration begins in the space between Chinese and English, where meaning shifts, slips, doubles back, and becomes something new. Rather than treating mistranslation as failure, MiSREADiNG treats it as material: a record of movement between worlds, a place where identity becomes layered, legible, and alive.

The capsule brings together SHAO’s structured urban silhouette with CHiNGLiSH WANG’s playful cultural language, translating text into garment, graphic, object, and gesture.

Framed text artwork titled "MISREADING" by SHAO and Chinglish Wang, featuring a detailed essay printed in black on a textured tan paper background exploring cultural identity, language, and the intersection of Chinese and American systems.

The Concept

MiSREADiNG explores the experience of moving between languages without always landing cleanly in either one.

For many bilingual people, translation is not simply about finding the “right” word. It is about tone, timing, memory, family, internet humor, cultural shorthand, and the small emotional gap between what is said and what is understood.

That gap is where this collaboration lives.

SHAO brings structure, proportion, and a garment-focused approach. CHiNGLiSH WANG brings bilingual wordplay, cultural double-reading, and graphic humor. Together, the project turns language into something physical: printed, folded, zipped, rearranged, and worn.

The Language

Stylized black Chinese characters incorporating Gothic-style English letters "Ba ma" above a sequence of punctuation marks including an exclamation point, question mark, and exclamation point on a plain white background.

香蕉 / Banana

“Banana” is sometimes used as slang for someone who is ethnically Asian but culturally Americanized. In MiSREADiNG, the word works as both a simple bilingual joke and a light reference to cultural identity and assimilation.

Black stylized Chinese characters arranged vertically on a plain white background with an ellipsis following the text.

狀態錯誤 / Status Error

A phrase that sounds like a system message, but also describes a human feeling. It captures the condition of being out of sync, emotionally or culturally, as if the body itself is returning an error code.

Abstract black calligraphic design combining stylized Asian characters arranged vertically with three bold exclamation marks beneath on a plain white background.

永遠時差中 / Always Jet Lagged

A phrase about more than travel. It suggests living between time zones, cultures, languages, and expectations. You are present, but not fully adjusted. Here, jet lag becomes a metaphor for diasporic rhythm.

Minimalist black typographic design combining bold Asian characters with English words "rice and ?" centered on a clean white background.

米飯與漢堡 / Rice and Burger

A pairing of cultural symbols: rice and burger, East and West, home and outside world, comfort and assimilation. The phrase is funny because it is simple, but it also points to the everyday mixing of identities.

Blackletter style typography art combining English and Asian characters in a bold black font centered on a clean white background, creating a fusion of script styles.

自動切換 / Auto Switch

A reference to bilingual code-switching. The phrase captures the instinctive shift between languages, tones, personalities, and cultural registers depending on who you are speaking to.

Black typographic artwork featuring a fusion of Gothic-style English letters intertwined with traditional Chinese characters, set in black on a plain white background.

不合適沒關係 / No Fit It Is Ok

A deliberately imperfect translation that feels more honest because of its awkwardness. It speaks to the pressure to fit in, and the quiet relief of realizing that not fitting perfectly can still be okay.

Intricate blackletter typography blending English letters with stylized Asian characters arranged in two horizontal lines, followed by three bold exclamation marks on a white background.

未授權更新 / Unauthorized Update

A system-style phrase that becomes personal. It suggests change that happens without permission: cultural change, generational change, emotional change, identity updating itself before anyone approves it.

Blackletter-inspired black typography combining stylized Asian characters with English quotation marks on a plain white background, emphasizing a blend of cultural scripts.

文化老闆 / Culture Boss

A playful phrase about cultural confidence and performance. It pokes fun at authority, taste-making, and the way people claim cultural fluency, ownership, or expertise.
I don’t see mistranslation as failure. I see it as a record of movement between worlds.

— Shao Yang
Row of white long-sleeve shirts with black stylized Asian characters printed on the front, hanging evenly spaced on black hangers from a horizontal rod inside a dimly lit, rustic recessed display space.

The Capsule

The SHAO x CHiNGLiSH WANG capsule centers on oversized cotton jersey T-shirts and square silk scarves.
Person wearing a loose black shirt with white Asian characters printed on the chest, black shorts, and holding a white motorcycle helmet while sitting on a black motorbike on a wet street at night.

The T-shirts are constructed from 100% cotton jersey in an ’80s oversized unisex fit. They feature a clean crew neckline, extended short sleeves, a straight hem, and functional zipper openings through the side body, shoulder, and sleeve.

The black and white T-shirts are designed as a modular two-tone system. The front and back panels can be fully separated and interchanged, allowing the shirts to be worn separately or combined into a black-and-white colorblock composition.

The result is a graphic T-shirt that functions like a garment system. Language can be read. Panels can be moved. The body becomes part of the translation.
Ornate vintage-style frame surrounding a black folded fabric with white stylized Asian calligraphy characters printed across its surface, displayed against a neutral background.

The square silk scarves carry the bilingual graphics into a more formal object. Text moves from the surface of a T-shirt to the frame of a scarf, shifting between fashion, image, and collectible object.

May 20-21, 2026

The Presentation

A row of mannequins dressed in dark, tailored garments including a sleeveless dress and structured jackets, positioned in a dimly lit space with vertical illuminated wall niches displaying additional clothing pieces.
Woman with long dark hair and bold makeup wearing a black leather dress with a thigh-high slit, posing with a mannequin dressed in a matching black leather dress in a dimly lit corridor.
Two mannequins dressed in tailored black outfits with structured silhouettes, displayed in a dimly lit space featuring framed calligraphy art on textured walls.
Tall model with styled hair wearing a white shirt with exaggerated cuffs over a black cutout top and high-waisted wide-leg denim pants, posing indoors near framed calligraphy artwork.
Minimalist art gallery corridor with framed abstract prints lining textured concrete walls, illuminated by soft natural light from a tall central window and overhead circular speakers.
Woman with straight black hair wearing a sheer black lace top and light denim jeans accessorized with a dark patterned scarf tied to the belt and a leopard-print shoulder bag, posing indoors near framed artwork on textured walls.
Framed artwork with ornate decorative border displaying stylized white Chinese characters on a black background, mounted on a textured beige wall with a small label nearby.
Dimly lit display of white and black garments arranged on hangers and shelves recessed into a textured concrete wall, highlighting minimalist industrial design.
Two people closely examine a white garment with bold black Asian characters printed on the fabric, captured in soft black-and-white lighting.
Softly lit concrete niches displaying an intricately textured green handbag with a blurred mannequin dressed in a cream shirt in the foreground, evoking an artistic boutique atmosphere.

Presented in SoHo, MiSREADiNG brought the capsule into a physical environment of garments, framed text, installation, and community.

Guests moved through a space where bilingual graphics appeared as both fashion and visual storytelling. Presented during AAPI Heritage Month, the project created a setting where language, image, and clothing operated together.

SHAO brought structure, proportion, and garment discipline. CHiNGLiSH WANG brought linguistic humor, cultural double-reading, and graphic immediacy. The presentation held both in tension, with the clothes doing the work.

Close-up of smooth, deep burgundy fabric with white stylized Chinese characters printed on one side, featuring a subtle sheen and folded texture highlighting its silky material.

Shop The Capsule

Scarves and shirts from the MiSREADiNG capsule are now available.

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