Club Her, a female collective focused on empowering creatives founded by designers Chelsea Ma and Rupal Banerjee, hosted an event earlier this month in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islanders month.

Ma and Banerjee aim to combat the lack of Asian American representation in the fashion, television, film, and music industries through their work in Club Her. The three-hour event took place in Culver City and consisted of two panels – AAPI Women in Fashion and AAPI Digital Creatives – where the audience of emerging stylists, designers, and content creators had the opportunity to learn from a group of established Asian American women navigating the industry. 

As attendees sipped on complimentary bubble tea provided by Asian-owned LA staple Boba Guys, the panelists mingled with the excited audience before the event began.

Ma moderated both panels as she spoke with six women carving out their own paths in the fashion and social media industries. The Women in Fashion panel included stylist and creative director Aleali May, public speaker and model Simran Randhawa, and Banerjee herself as she discussed her own brand, Ru by Rupal. The Digital Creatives panel included Twitch streamer Yvonne Ng, food digital creator Soy Nguyen, and fashion digital creator Biddy. 

Each speaker featured in the Women in Fashion panel has tapped into and explored varying areas of the fashion industry throughout their journeys as Asian American female entrepreneurs. May, the first woman to design a unisex sneaker for Nike, had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of working at RSVP Gallery with the late Virgil Abloh. Randhawa, who was unassumingly scouted as a model in the UK, has also worked alongside Nike not only as a model, but as a creative consultant.

The diverse group of creatives with wide-ranging niches and talents participating in each panel engaged and captivated the audience. The event served to inspire and empower young Asian American creatives to create space for themselves in an industry that has historically under-represented their voices.

The fashion industry has made substantial efforts in recent years to increase visibility and representation, evidenced by Peter Do’s appointment as Helmut Lang’s creative director earlier this month. But AAPI women’s voices are still lacking in prominent fashion spaces. Ma and Banerjee’s initiatives are working to address this issue from the ground up to create a more equitable industry.