Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week Zang Toi Fall 2011

Zang Toi was born and raised in a small village in Kelantan, the youngest of seven children of a grocer. After leaving his native Malaysia at the age of eighteen,

Zang arrived in New York and at the age of 20, began his studies at Parsons School of Design. In August 1989, he opened his atelier and soon after, Zang was awarded the 1990 Mouton Cadet Young Designer of the Year award which recognizes the top, young U.S. designer of the year. In a Newsday article published in 1991, Frank de Car enthusiastically noted of the Malaysian-born designer and his success, “If anyone is THE NEXT BIG THING, it’s him.” (Newsday, New York, 29 April 1991)

Since then, Zang has captured the attention of the world’s fashion elite and continues to be characterized by his precocious aptitude and astute business acumen. After making his designs available in Malaysia in 1996 through his specialty dress shop in Lot 10 Shopping Center, in 2004 and 2005, Zang further expanded his operation with a Zang Toi Café in the fashionable Pavilion Shopping Center in downtown Kuala Lumpur, and with the Zang Toi shoe licensing in Malaysia.

Zang Toi is definitely a favorite of mine from the first time I saw his collection. Here is a link to his Spring 2011 collection I photographed on the runway at Fashion Week in September 2010.