Known for marrying grandma chic with an infectious youthfulness, contemporary Hong Kong-based knitwear label YanYan has garnered a cult following since its inception in 2019. It was founded by designers and childhood friends Phyllis Chan and Suzzie Chung, who first met in high school. “We both loved fashion and design and art, going to the movies, shopping, reading comics. It was our dream to have our own brand back then, even though we had no idea what that would entail,” recounts Phyllis.

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In the following decade after graduating from their respective colleges, Suzzie continued to hone her skills as a print designer in Hong Kong while Phyllis headed for New York, where she would eventually become the Director of Knitwear at American fashion label rag & bone. In 2018, the two friends came together to achieve their longtime dream of starting a label.

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Translated to “everybody” in Cantonese, the pair envisioned YanYan as a knitwear label with thoughtfully designed products for all. Guided by this inclusive ethos, the garments are embedded with a bevy of irreverent details—such as clashing patterns and unusual colour combinations—intended to liberate wearers from the influence of trends and the fear of committing a fashion faux pas.

“Personally, I really love mixing colour and print. I used to be a fashion graphic designer, and I love seeing how my vision of a print is translated through the lens of knitting,” shares Suzzie. Borrowing from Suzzie’s expertise as a graphic designer and Phyllis’s love for novelty yarns, the high-quality knitwear pieces are not only playfully stylish but primarily crafted from deadstock material and natural fibres.

Beyond its unadulterated sense of fun, the juxtaposition of modern and traditional elements is also one of the label’s most distinctive hallmarks. Think pastel cardigans embroidered with auspicious animalistic motifs, or the assortment of colour-blocked cheongsam-inspired dresses found in the brand’s archives. “We pull a lot of inspiration from our own childhood and our experience growing up in Hong Kong,” explains Phyllis. Ahead, we speak to the founders on YanYan’s origin story and how they’re modernising Maa Maa (or grandma in Cantonese) style.

Was YanYan launched because you saw a niche or a gap in the fashion landscape?

Phyllis Chan: We didn’t really think about what was “missing” from the market. Rather, we wanted to express ourselves as designers. We wanted to create pieces that communicated our love for knitwear, for colour and print, for our culture and heritage, and for our love of Hong Kong.

What is the significance of the Chinese elements and iconography in your work?

Suzzie Chung: There are a lot of elements from our culture here in Hong Kong that are personal and special to us and we want to celebrate that. Usually, we’ll pick a topic or an artist, and it becomes an opportunity to learn more about our heritage and culture.

Tell us more about your creative process.

PC: Suzzie and I are both designers with specific skill sets. We usually start with building a story through textures and colours about something from our life—say, Hong Kong school uniforms, Qi Baishi paintings, or the little knick knacks you can buy in Sham Shui Po. Sometimes, we think about what we wanted to wear as teenagers, or what we want to wear now as adults. We design everything together; I usually deal with the silhouette, or technical parts, like stitches and yarn, and Suzzie thinks about how to combine the colours and textures together.

Knitwear is often associated with the fall/winter season. What's the most difficult part about transforming a knit garment into an everyday staple for any season?

SC: We live in Hong Kong, which is pretty hot most of the year. These days, people prefer a transitional weight, something that gives your outfit texture, but which you can layer and wear often so that it feels like it’s worth the investment. It’s definitely challenging, but that’s why we’re always playing around with materials like linen and cotton and thinking about yarn combinations and stitches.

You source materials from specialty mills and use deadstock fabric. Why is environmental sustainability so important to the both of you?

PC: When we started our company, we decided that we would focus more time and effort on how we approach design, sourcing, and production. In our first capsule collection, we integrated leftover materials from our factory into the products, and as our company grew, we made it part of the process to use
leftover materials from previous production cycles whenever we can, and repurpose them in new designs, to reduce textile waste. The wonderful thing about knitwear is that you can use the same material in so many ways, and there’s always a way to make it look new.