Angel City’s AANHPI Scarf
I am honored to have designed the collectible scarf for Los Angeles’ women’s soccer team Angel City Football Club @weareangelcity, in honor of AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian + Pacific Islander) Heritage Month.
Soccer scarves are a beloved tradition around the world, and I enjoyed creating a visual totem that reflected this unique time in LA, my heritage, the Asian American spirit, and Angel City - such a powerful team of women.
I hope people wear it + hang it on their wall as a hopeful reminder of how powerful & strong they are. More about the design below.
Get one here ($38):
ABOUT THE DESIGN:
Like much of my work, this piece features layers of color and imagery— as metaphors for memory, identity and perspective. After all, I’m made of layers too, half-Japanese and having lived in multiple countries and cities before finally calling Los Angeles home.
For this commission, I wanted to add the color red to Angel City’s color palette of cream, pink, black and white, as it is a symbol of prosperity and celebration in so many countries in Asia (In China, it symbolizes good luck + prosperity; In Hawaii, red or ‘ula ‘ula is a deeply sacred color associated strength, power, divinity, and protection).
With the memory of the fires still very raw in my mind, I designed a sun, symbolic of new beginnings and spring, to match the exact color of the sun during the fires, which is indelible in the minds of Angelenos. Within this memory, there is hardship and loss, but also incredible strength and communal resilience.
Growing in front of it from ash, I depicted young bamboo — which is one of the strongest, flexible, and agile materials — a metaphor for our community, the AANHPI spirit, and Angel City FC. I integrated a Sumi-e swipe to honor that meditative charcoal painting practice which originated in China, that I have been studying - as I wanted the design to feel traditional yet also modern.
The silhouettes of leaves and plants at the bottom of the scarf include pine and 'ōhi'a lehua - all metaphors for resilience as well as spring growth —a reminder that, even after hardship, there is renewal and hope.
Resilience is a word that kept coming up in my head while I was creating this scarf - this word is emblematic of the spirit of the Asian diaspora as well as this moment in time. The font I used for ‘resilience’ was inspired by the Philippine & S.E. Asian islands pre-colonial sword ‘sundang,’ which similarly evokes a strong, warrior spirit.
It’s been an emotional year here in Los Angeles, so I really wanted to reinforce the strength that can come from community coming together to overcome challenges.
Angel City FC have been sponsors of Kibō Nobori for several years now, so it was a deep honor to create this for them and join in the celebrations this month. Below are some pictures from the AANHPI scarf photoshoot featuring the scarf, me, and members of Asian Americans Advancing Justice at Terasaki Budokan by the incredible team at Las Fotos Project.
Read my full interview with Angel City FC for more.
