Jason Wu

Jason Wu is a New York-based luxury fashion house founded by Taiwanese-born, Canadian-raised designer Jason Wu. The brand is closely associated with polished American sportswear, modern femininity, precise tailoring, eveningwear, and the designer’s detailed approach to construction. Although the label is named after its founder, it operates as a broader fashion and lifestyle business spanning runway and ready-to-wear collections, contemporary offerings, handbags, beauty, and selected licensed accessories. Wu developed an interest in fashion through miniature design. As a child, he used dolls as mannequins and learned to sew after receiving a sewing machine from his mother. During his teenage years he designed clothing for dolls produced by Integrity Toys, including the Jason Wu dolls and Fashion Royalty lines, and later became the company’s creative director. The scale and precision of doll construction gave him an early grounding in proportion, surface treatment, garment finishing, and accessory design. He subsequently studied sculpture in Tokyo and attended Parsons School of Design in New York, although he did not complete the degree. Before establishing his own label, he trained under American designer Narciso Rodriguez. The namesake fashion line debuted in 2006, with the company’s own account describing the namesake house as having debuted commercially in 2007. Wu financed the early ready-to-wear business partly through income from his doll-design work. From the beginning, the house positioned itself between American sportswear and couture workmanship: garments are intended to be wearable and functional, but are distinguished by complex construction, refined fabrics, sculptural details, and hand-finished elements. The official brand description emphasizes sophistication, glamour, refinement, and modern femininity. The decisive breakthrough came through Michelle Obama. Introduced to Wu through Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley, Obama purchased several of his dresses before Barack Obama’s 2008 election. She wore a custom white, one-shoulder Jason Wu gown to the inaugural balls in January 2009 and later wore additional Wu designs for official travel, magazine appearances, and the 2013 inauguration. The exposure transformed Wu from a promising young designer into an internationally recognized name and established the house as a prominent source of political and ceremonial dressing. His client base has also included actresses, models, public figures, and other influential women. Recognition followed quickly. Wu received the Fashion Group International Rising Star award in 2008 and was nominated for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund that year. He also expanded the brand through collaborations and adjacent labels. A 2011 partnership with Creative Nail Design connected his runway collection to a four-color nail-polish capsule. In the same period, he collaborated with Target on a mass-market collection, extending his design language to a much larger consumer audience. In 2013, he introduced the younger-priced Miss Wu line with Nordstrom; the concept was later relaunched as Grey in 2016 with a custom Pantone shade. Alongside his own label, Wu served as art director of Hugo Boss’s womenswear business from 2013 through 2018. The role broadened his experience from an independent designer label to a major international fashion group and gave him responsibility for a complete womenswear range. After the collaboration ended, the Jason Wu house continued developing its signature collections and contemporary offerings under the designer’s direction. The brand has also moved into beauty and accessories. Jason Wu Beauty launched in 2020 as an accessible makeup and skincare line created with beauty entrepreneur Toni Ko and distributed initially through Target. Its stated design philosophy translates the fashion house’s restrained glamour into light, wearable products intended to enhance rather than conceal the wearer’s features. In 2024…

Jason Wu’s fashion career began with miniature garments rather than conventional apparel production. Born in Yunlin County, Taiwan, and raised in Vancouver after emigrating to Canada at age nine, Wu learned sewing through doll design. His mother bought him a sewing machine, and dolls became both his clients and his mannequins. At sixteen, he began freelance work for Integrity Toys, designing clothing for Jason Wu dolls and later Fashion Royalty. The following year, he became the company’s creative director. This early work required unusually close attention to scale, proportion, tailoring, closures, hair, accessories, and finish, all of which later became recognizable characteristics of his fashion practice. Wu also studied sculpture in Tokyo, an experience that reinforced his interest in three-dimensional form and the relationship between clothing and the body. During his final year of secondary school in France, he decided to pursue fashion design. He attended Parsons School of Design in New York but did not graduate. He subsequently trained under Narciso Rodriguez, gaining experience within an established American design vocabulary centered on clean lines, controlled silhouettes, and refined construction. Using money earned through doll design, Wu founded his namesake fashion business and presented his debut ready-to-wear collection in 2006. The house’s own biography dates the debut of the namesake company to 2007, while reference accounts generally identify 2006 as the debut year of the fashion collection. From its earliest positioning, Jason Wu combined American sportswear with couture craftsmanship. The clothes were designed for practical wardrobes but elevated through luxurious materials, intricate construction, feminine shapes, and meticulous finishing. This balance allowed the brand to occupy a space between high-end designer ready-to-wear and formal occasion dressing. The label’s rapid rise was accelerated by celebrity and political dressing. Early clients included Ivana Trump, January Jones, and Amber Valletta, while Wu also developed a creative relationship with RuPaul and designed six RuPaul dolls. His exposure increased through editorial work and advertising. In 2006, dresses associated with Wu were photographed underwater by Howard Schatz for a Brizo branded faucet campaign produced by Delta Faucet Company. In 2008, Wu received the Fashion Group International Rising Star award and was nominated for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. These milestones established him as one of the most visible emerging designers in New York. Michelle Obama became the defining public association of the house. André Leon Talley introduced Obama to Wu while advising the incoming First Family on fashion. Obama purchased four dresses from him before the 2008 election and wore one on a television appearance shortly before voting. In January 2009, she wore a custom white, one-shoulder, floor-length chiffon gown by Wu to the inaugural balls celebrating Barack Obama’s first term. The gown generated extensive international coverage and was widely described as a career-defining moment for the young designer. Obama continued to wear Jason Wu designs during her years as First Lady. She appeared in a Wu dress on the cover of Vogue, wore a chartreuse silk sheath and a Wu coat during the Obamas’ 2009 visit to London, and selected a ruby-red velvet-and-chiffon Wu design for the 2013 inaugural balls. The relationship gave the house a strong association with modern ceremonial dressing while also introducing its work to customers who might not have encountered a young New York designer through runway coverage alone. Wu expanded beyond the core collection through collaborations and diffusion. His 2011 Creative Nail Design partnership translated the Spring 2011 runway palette into four nail-polish colors. He also created a limited collection for Target, joining a broader movement of designer collaborations that used mass retail to reach new customers. In 2013, he introduced Miss Wu with Nordstrom, targeting a younger customer and a lower price point than the principal collection. Miss Wu was later relaunched as Grey in 2016, with Pantone helping develop a custom grey tone for the label. The designer’s role at Hugo Boss marked another major stage. From 2013 to 2018, Wu served as art director for the German company’s womenswear, overseeing the complete womenswear range rather than a single capsule or seasonal collaboration. The position placed his design work within a large international fashion organization and broadened his experience in product architecture, commercial scale, global distribution, and brand consistency. The alliance ended after five years, after which Wu continued concentrating on his own house and related ventures. The Jason Wu business later diversified into beauty. Jason Wu Beauty was launched in 2020 as an accessible cosmetics and skincare line developed with Toni Ko, founder of NYX Cosmetics, and associated with an initial Target rollout. The beauty brand framed itself around effortless, chic, light-handed makeup designed to reveal rather than mask the wearer’s features. Products have included tinted complexion products, lip colors, glosses, lip liners, eye products, and related accessories. This extension carried the fashion house’s emphasis on refined femininity into a more frequent and lower-priced consumer category. Accessories became another area of expansion. The studio has offered handbags, and in 2024 it signed a licensing and distribution partnership with Concept One Accessories for an aspirational collection of handbags and small leather goods. The arrangement indicated a move toward wider distribution and specialized production for accessories while the main studio continued to sell fashion through its own channels and selected retailers. In recent seasons, Jason Wu has maintained a collection-driven identity centered on dresses, gowns, jackets, outerwear, pants, skirts, knitwear, tops, and handbags. The official studio currently lists Spring 2026 “Collage,” a collaboration with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, alongside Pre-Fall 2026 material. In 2026, Wu also worked with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on “Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity.” He customized the faces, hair, and finishes of exhibition mannequins displaying historical Chinese and Chinese American garments. This museum project extended his practice from designing clothes to shaping how bodies, identity, and dress history are presented to the public. Across its history, the Jason Wu house has remained strongly founder-led. Its reputation rests on a combination of American luxury, modern femininity, red-carpet and political visibility, detailed construction, and carefully chosen extensions into accessible beauty and licensed accessories. The brand’s trajectory demonstrates how a small designer label can use high-profile dressing to build recognition, then broaden its commercial reach without abandoning a couture-informed design language.

1. 2026Spring 2026 “Collage” collection

   Jason Wu Studio presented a Spring 2026 collection titled “Collage” in collaboration with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

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2. 2026LACMA mannequin collaboration

   Wu customized mannequins for LACMA’s exhibition “Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity,” scheduled from June 14 through October 12, 2026.

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3. 2024Concept One accessories partnership

   The brand entered a licensing and distribution agreement with Concept One for handbags and small leather goods.

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4. 2023First reported menswear design for Gong Jun

   Wu designed a white embroidered suit with a frog fastening for actor Gong Jun’s Cannes appearance, representing an expansion into menswear dressing.

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5. 2020Jason Wu Beauty launches

   Wu entered accessible cosmetics and skincare with Jason Wu Beauty, developed with Toni Ko and initially distributed through Target.

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6. 2018End of Hugo Boss alliance

   Wu and Hugo Boss ended their five-year creative relationship.

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7. 2016Miss Wu becomes Grey

   The contemporary diffusion concept was relaunched as Grey with a custom Pantone grey shade.

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8. 2013Miss Wu introduced with Nordstrom

   Wu launched Miss Wu as a younger and more accessible diffusion line in partnership with Nordstrom.

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9. 2013Appointment at Hugo Boss

   Wu became art director of Hugo Boss womenswear, overseeing the German fashion house’s full womenswear range.

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10. 2011Creative Nail Design capsule

    Wu collaborated with Creative Nail Design on four nail-polish colors associated with his Spring 2011 collection.

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11. 2011Jason Wu for Target

    The designer launched a limited mass-market collection through Target, expanding his audience beyond luxury fashion customers.

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12. 2009Michelle Obama’s first inaugural gown

    Michelle Obama wore a custom Jason Wu gown to the inaugural balls for Barack Obama’s first presidential term.

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13. 2008Rising Star award and CFDA/Vogue nomination

    Wu received the Fashion Group International Rising Star award and was nominated for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.

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14. 2006Debut fashion collection

    Jason Wu presented his debut ready-to-wear collection and began building the namesake fashion house after financing early work through doll design.

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15. 2006Brizo advertising collaboration

    Wu’s dresses were featured in an underwater fashion image campaign by photographer Howard Schatz for Delta Faucet Company’s Brizo brand.

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American luxury fashion with couture-informed craftsmanship, polished sportswear influences, modern femininity, and accessible extensions in beauty and accessories.

• Jason Wu CollectionLuxury ready-to-wear womenswear2006

  The flagship line expresses the house’s core identity: American luxury shaped by polished sportswear, precise tailoring, refined fabrics, sculptural construction, and couture-informed finishing. It includes seasonal runway and ready-to-wear pieces such as dresses, gowns, jackets, outerwear, pants, skirts, tops, and knitwear. The collection is intended for customers seeking sophisticated daywear and formal dressing with a strong emphasis on modern femininity and understated glamour.

• Jason Wu contemporary lineContemporary womenswear2007

  The contemporary line translates the Jason Wu aesthetic into a more relaxed and commercially accessible wardrobe. It retains the brand’s focus on elegant proportion, feminine silhouettes, and careful finishing while addressing everyday dressing rather than only runway or ceremonial occasions. The line forms part of the house’s strategy of serving multiple price and lifestyle segments without separating the contemporary customer entirely from the main brand identity.

• Miss WuDiffusion womenswear2013

  Miss Wu was introduced with Nordstrom in 2013 as a younger and lower-priced diffusion line. It was designed to make selected elements of Wu’s fashion language available to customers who were not purchasing the main luxury collection. Michelle Obama wore a green Miss Wu shift before the line reached stores, giving the new label immediate visibility. The Miss Wu concept was later relaunched under the name Grey.

• GreyContemporary womenswear2016

  Grey was the 2016 relaunch of the Miss Wu contemporary concept. Wu partnered with Pantone to create a custom grey hue for the label, reinforcing a more accessible and modern interpretation of the main house. The line represented an effort to maintain the designer’s recognizable refinement while using a younger positioning, a lower price architecture, and a broader retail proposition than the signature collection.

• Jason Wu BeautyCosmetics and skincare2020

  Jason Wu Beauty is the house’s accessible beauty line, launched in 2020 with beauty entrepreneur Toni Ko. The assortment has included complexion products such as tinted moisturizer and CC cream, lip gloss, matte lip cream, lip liner, jewel-stick eyeshadow, and related beauty accessories. The brand describes its philosophy as effortless, chic, and light-handed: products are intended to enhance the wearer’s natural appearance while expressing the refined femininity associated with the fashion label.

• Jason Wu handbags and small leather goodsAccessories2024

  The Jason Wu accessories business includes handbags and small leather goods designed to extend the house’s fashion identity into daily-use products. The studio has historically handled handbag production in-house, while a 2024 agreement with Concept One created a licensed and distributed accessories collection positioned as aspirational. Retail examples include crossbody bags and other handbags, with distribution supported through specialist and department-store channels.

• Jason Wu for Hugo BossDesigner womenswear line2013

  Jason Wu for Hugo Boss was not a standalone independent brand but the product of Wu’s role as art director for Hugo Boss womenswear from 2013 to 2018. The work covered the broader womenswear range of the German fashion house rather than a small capsule. It applied Wu’s tailoring and modern femininity to an international corporate fashion platform before the five-year creative alliance ended.

• 2026Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity

  United States · International museum audience

  Wu collaborated with LACMA by customizing mannequins for an exhibition tracing the evolution of Chinese women’s dress from the late Qing period through modernity. His work included individualized faces, hairstyles, and finishes for mannequins displaying more than 70 historical looks.

  Outcome. The project broadened Wu’s public role from fashion designer to museum collaborator and connected his Taiwanese and Chinese diasporic background with the interpretation of fashion history.

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• 2020Jason Wu Beauty launch campaign

  United States

  Jason Wu Beauty introduced affordable cosmetics and skincare through the Jason Wu name, with an initial rollout involving Target. The positioning emphasized effortless glamour, light application, and the idea of revealing rather than concealing the wearer’s identity.

  Outcome. The campaign established beauty as a meaningful adjacent category for the fashion house and brought the brand to a substantially wider consumer base.

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• 2011Jason Wu for Target

  United States

  Wu created a limited collection for Target, adapting the visual language of his luxury label for a mass retail environment. The collection included fashion and accessories intended for a broader audience and was supported by Target lookbook and retail marketing materials.

  Outcome. The collaboration expanded awareness of the Jason Wu name beyond the luxury market and formed part of Target’s series of designer partnerships.

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• 2009Michelle Obama inaugural dressing

  United States · International media

  Jason Wu designed the custom white one-shoulder gown Michelle Obama wore at the inaugural balls for Barack Obama’s first presidential term. The event placed the young designer’s work before a global audience and tied the house to modern American ceremonial fashion.

  Outcome. The exposure is widely regarded as the breakthrough that accelerated Wu’s international profile and commercial visibility.

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• 2006Brizo underwater fashion campaign

  United States

  Dresses associated with Jason Wu were photographed underwater by Howard Schatz for a campaign for Delta Faucet Company’s Brizo brand. The campaign connected fashion imagery with a home-design product and helped give the emerging designer early editorial and advertising visibility.

  Outcome. The campaign became an early documented example of Wu’s work being used in a major branded visual campaign.

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• 2026Collaborate with LACMA on historical fashion exhibition presentationOther

  LACMA’s exhibition required mannequins capable of presenting historical Chinese and Chinese American garments while conveying changing body types, hairstyles, and identities.

  What changed. Wu customized the faces, hairstyles, and finishes of exhibition mannequins used for more than 70 historical looks.

  Aftermath. The collaboration extended the Jason Wu name into museum practice and linked the designer’s fashion expertise with the interpretation of Chinese dress history.

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• 2024License and distribute handbags and small leather goods through Concept OneM&A

  The brand had produced handbags in-house but sought a broader and more specialized platform for accessories production and distribution.

  What changed. Jason Wu entered a licensing and distribution partnership with Concept One Accessories for an aspirational collection of handbags and small leather goods.

  Aftermath. The agreement increased the potential scale of the accessories business while allowing the studio to remain focused on its principal fashion collections.

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• 2020Expand into accessible beautyProduct launch

  The Jason Wu brand had strong recognition in fashion but had not previously operated a substantial cosmetics and skincare line.

  What changed. Wu launched Jason Wu Beauty with Toni Ko, introducing affordable makeup and skincare through an initial Target rollout.

  Aftermath. Beauty became a new consumer touchpoint and extended the house’s core themes of femininity, polish, and effortless glamour into an everyday category.

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• 2016Relaunch Miss Wu as GreyGeneration change

  The house sought to refresh its contemporary diffusion proposition after the initial Miss Wu concept.

  What changed. Wu relaunched the line as Grey and worked with Pantone on a custom grey color.

  Aftermath. The relaunch preserved the accessible-line strategy while giving it a new name and a more defined visual identity.

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• 2013Launch the Miss Wu diffusion lineStrategy

  Wu sought to reach younger customers and consumers who were not buying the main luxury collection.

  What changed. He introduced Miss Wu in partnership with Nordstrom as a lower-priced, younger-oriented line.

  Aftermath. The label expanded the house’s customer architecture and provided a platform for translating Wu’s design language into more accessible products.

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• 2013Accept Hugo Boss womenswear art-director roleStrategy

  Wu’s independent label was established, but a major international fashion group offered an opportunity to work at substantially greater organizational and distributional scale.

  What changed. He became art director of Hugo Boss womenswear and oversaw the company’s full womenswear range.

  Aftermath. The five-year role broadened Wu’s experience in global fashion operations and ended in 2018, after which he continued focusing on his own house.

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• 2011Enter mass retail through Jason Wu for TargetProduct launch

  The luxury label had gained visibility but remained limited in reach compared with mass-market fashion brands and department-store labels.

  What changed. Wu created a limited collection for Target, translating selected elements of his aesthetic into a broader retail assortment.

  Aftermath. The collaboration increased the accessibility and public recognition of the Jason Wu name and became part of the designer’s wider brand-extension strategy.

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• 2006Finance and launch an independent namesake fashion houseStrategy

  Before launching his apparel label, Wu had built practical design experience and income through doll clothing and creative-director work for Integrity Toys.

  What changed. He used earnings from doll design to establish the Jason Wu ready-to-wear business and present its debut collection.

  Aftermath. The strategy allowed Wu to enter fashion as an independent designer while carrying forward his expertise in miniature construction, proportion, and detailed finishing.

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• 2026Jason Wu presents Spring 2026 “Collage” collection

  The studio’s Spring 2026 collection was presented under the title “Collage” in collaboration with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

  Product launchCampaign
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• 2026Jason Wu contributes customized mannequins to LACMA exhibition

  Wu customized mannequins for LACMA’s “Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity,” an exhibition examining changes in Chinese women’s dress across more than a century.

  CampaignOther
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• 2024Jason Wu signs licensed accessories partnership with Concept One

  Concept One announced a licensing and distribution partnership for Jason Wu handbags and small leather goods, expanding the brand’s accessories presence.

  M&A
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• 2020Jason Wu Beauty launches through Target

  Wu launched an accessible makeup and skincare line developed with beauty entrepreneur Toni Ko, with an initial retail rollout involving Target.

  Product launch
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• 2018Jason Wu and Hugo Boss end their five-year alliance

  Wu and Hugo Boss ended the designer’s five-year art-director relationship covering the company’s womenswear business.

  Leadership change
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• 2016Jason Wu relaunches Miss Wu as Grey

  The contemporary label was relaunched under the name Grey, including a custom grey color developed with Pantone.

  Product generation
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• 2013Jason Wu becomes Hugo Boss womenswear art director

  Wu took responsibility for the German fashion house’s womenswear range, adding a major international creative-director role to his independent label.

  Leadership change
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• 2013Miss Wu launches with Nordstrom

  Wu introduced Miss Wu as a younger, lower-priced diffusion line in partnership with Nordstrom.

  Product launch
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• 2011Jason Wu collaborates with Creative Nail Design

  The designer created a four-color nail-polish capsule tied to his Spring 2011 collection, extending his fashion language into beauty accessories.

  Product launch
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• 2011Jason Wu launches a Target collection

  The Jason Wu for Target collection brought selected elements of the designer’s aesthetic to a broad mass-market audience through a limited retail collaboration.

  Product launchCampaign
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• 2009Michelle Obama wears Jason Wu for the 2009 inaugural balls

  Michelle Obama wore a custom Jason Wu white one-shoulder gown during the inaugural celebrations for Barack Obama’s first presidential term, bringing major international attention to the designer.

  CampaignOther
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• 2008Jason Wu receives Fashion Group International Rising Star recognition

  The designer received the Fashion Group International Rising Star award as his young label gained industry attention.

  Other
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• 2008Jason Wu is nominated for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund

  Wu was nominated for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund during the early expansion of his namesake fashion business.

  Other
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• 2006Jason Wu launches his namesake ready-to-wear label

  Wu introduced his debut fashion collection after building experience and financing through doll-clothing design and related creative work.

  Product launch
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1. Jason Wu Studio: About
2. Jason Wu Studio: Official Website
3. Jason Wu Studio: Collections
4. Jason Wu Studio: Press Highlights
5. Jason Wu
6. Jason Wu Beauty: About Us
7. How Jason Wu Beauty Is Bringing the Runway Back to Target in 2021
8. Jason Wu Partners With Concept One for Licensed Accessories
9. Concept One Accessories
10. Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity
11. Jason Wu for Target Lookbook
12. Jason Wu Beauty at Target