With her latest collection of whimsically pattern-blending pieces, designer Snow Xue Gao embraces the playful side of fashion in the most stylish of ways.
With a striking combo of patterns, designer Snow Xue Gao proves that style rules were made to be broken.
“Snow is one of the most clever designers I’ve come across in recent years,” says Chicago style maven Ikram Goldman of Snow Xue Gao, a New York-based fashion star on the rise who has caught the River North boutique owner’s eye. “She’ll do one dress, but she’ll do it in a different mix of fabrications, and each is better than the last. She also does these really beautiful wrap jackets where one side of the jacket is one fabric and the other side is another. I think that’s a really cool way to go to work—to stand apart from all of the other suiting and the normality of the office.”
Gao turns traditional suiting on its head, creating something entirely new—and effortlessly chic.
For Goldman, what makes the designer’s garments even more delectable is that they all complement each other. “So the dress can be worn under the jacket,” says Goldman, “or the jacket with the pant, the pant with a beautiful shirt, the dress as a tunic over a pant—it just all works together.” And as for those old rules of not mixing patterns? Forget about it, Goldman states. “This is her fun way of saying don’t be timid or shy; nothing is strict or rigid anymore—just go with what you love.” 15 E. Huron St., ikram.com; snowxuegao.com
Chicago style queen Ikram Goldman
A chic jacket from the latest Snow Xue Gao collection.
Photography by: IKRAM PHOTO BY MARIA PONCE BERRE; ALL OTHERS COURTESY OF BRAND
