Author: Renae Virata

Going Against The Grain: Sophie Chien

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Eighteen-year-old 2015 Against The Grain Bruce & Pat McRae Scholarship Winner, who is attending the Rhode Island School of Design and majoring in Architecture, was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. She grew up surrounded by critiques and discussions about design, as her parents are both architects. From this influence, she was drawn (literally) to take IB Visual Art for three years in high school, specifically focusing on expressing her ideas through sculpture and photography. Read more

2015 Orphanage and Underprivileged Children Aid Update: Vietnam

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Thanks to your support, we were able to provide $6,000 in support to several orphanages in Vietnam this fall. Here is the report from Ms. Aileen Nguyen on the disbursement.

“In addition to Ưu Đàm orphanage, ATG also helped SCP Danang House #3. SCP Danang House 3 and 4 celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival with hot meals, treats, and food.  We also distributed aid in the form of clothing items and new bicycles to those children who live in the outskirts of the city of Danang in the program “Giúp Em Đến Trường” (“Help You Get to School”) so that they can have the means to go to school on time. Those children were selected based on family status (they mostly lost one or both parents), certified by the local school board as having poverty status and who achieved good or exemplary academic status.

 

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Here is a thank you letter from the orphanages:

Dear ATG family,

Another Mid-Autumn festival has come. This year, the playground of Ưu Dam is filled with the sounds of the drumbeats from the Buddhist Family Dragon dance team and the excitement of the children, another children’s festival filled with love between the people of Buddha and the children in a less fortunate situation.

This Mid-Autumn Festival Ưu Đàm, coordinated with the Buddhist organization of Hue-TT, presented entertainment including a traditional dragon dance for the children of Ưu Dam and the underprivileged children in the neighborhood.  The playground was filled with more than 400 children who enjoyed the entertainment as well as the treats.  For this occasion, the ATG family provided 10M VND to support the celebration as well as 50 warm coats.  After going to the market twice to see only thin, old sweaters and nothing suitable, PT has asked Ms. Phan to help order from DaNang the 50 coats and will distribute those on another occasion. We will send pictures to you later.

During this festival, the children of Ưu Dam eagerly performed a traditional dance with all their heart.  I am sending a few pictures in sincere appreciation.

Wishing the ATG family peace, health, and happiness–
PT

Going Against The Grain: Nicholas Phat Nguyen

Nicholas Phat Nguyen

Nicholas Phat Nguyen is one of our newest Presenting Designers who will showcase his fashion line at our 7th Annual Fashion for a Passion charity event on Nov. 7. Nguyen grew up in Saigon, Vietnam, with a childhood dream of becoming a major fashion designer. As a part of a small group of advanced level students who were awarded the opportunity to study abroad in the United States, Nguyen arrived in America at the age of 15, ready to pursue his dreams as a designer. He devoted all of his free time to studying every aspect of fashion design, and through lots of practice, taught himself how to sew.

Nguyen found it a challenge to start his company while keeping up with his full-time studies, but he was determined. In December 2014, he graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in International Business, ready to take his next step with Mysterious by NPN.

Having already shown at Houston Artopia, Austin Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week, 2015 has brought exciting opportunities for the Mysterious by NPN with more to come.

Full name: 
Nicholas Phat Nguyen
Hometown: 
Saigon, Vietnam
Current City: 
Houston, Texas
Ethnicity: 
Vietnamese

What does it mean to you to “Go Against The Grain?”

Along with fashion, I always have a big heart for charity; to give back and help the community is a bigger picture of my dream!

What made you decide to pursue a career in this industry?

Art, music and fashion have always been my muses. They’ve inspired me in so many different ways. They feed on each other and make life special and unique. So does my taste. I’m very specific on what I like and what I want. It’s not easy to find something that you love most besides creating it yourself.

What have been some of the challenges you faced/lessons you learned as an Asian American in this field?  

Being Asian American makes me stand out; so do my designs. Since Europe has been known for their well-established fashion houses, the biggest challenge is how make my clients see and understand that my designs and products are far more important and of the best quality.

What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment, and why?

My biggest accomplishment is everything I have. Every day is my biggest accomplishment. You have to make the most out of every day to make the most out of every goals and dreams you have.

What’s up next?

As an artist, I want my art to inspire people to keep creating, to keep making the world different and unique. As a designer, I want my designs to become wearable art. I’m working on my F-W 2016 collection now. It’s going be something that I never done before. But I promise, it’s worth seeing.

Quote to live by:

“I don’t design clothes. I design dreams.” — Ralph Lauren

Sign (Eastern Animal Sign & Western Zodiac):

Snake, Cancer

Passionate about:

Art, Fashion, Music

Favorite food:

Asian, Italian

Can’t live without:

Art, Fashion, Music, Friends and Family

I Go Against The Grain #beCAUSE:

I want to make the world a better place.

Meet Our 2015 Fashion for a Passion Exhibiting Artists

2015 Artists Collage

DALLAS, TX – Dallas-based non-profit ATG Against The Grain Productions is proud to announce its 7th Annual Fashion for a Passion Exhibiting Artists. For the first time ever in the event’s history, these six talented artists recently received honors as 2015 Against The Grain Artistic Scholarship finalists or winners, noted for their scholarship, artistic abilities and pursuit of the arts as Asian American high school, college and graduate students. In keeping with part of the organization’s mission to support and provide a platform for emerging Asian American artists, Fashion for a Passion, which will take place Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7 for Parties in the Design District, will showcase an eclectic mix of paintings, film, sketch drawings and photographs as well as an array of talent from various backgrounds. Read more

Orphanage Aid Report 2015: Cambodia

Taso Village (Takeo) 2

Psar Trach Village (Kampong Chnangt) 1

We are proud to announce that our volunteers on the ground in Cambodia recently provided much-needed food and supplies to our supported orphanages in the region. Special thanks to Ms. Bin Navy, a relative of ATG Advisor to Cambodia Ms. Thear Sy Suzuki, and her friends Mr. Ngoun Rith and Mr. Sok Kry from the New Jerusalem Church in Cambodia, who helped make the purchases and disburse the donations. Read more

Announcing the 2015 Fashion for a Passion Musical Performer Line-Up

Dallas-based nonprofit Against The Grain Productions is proud to announce the lineup of musical performers for their seventh annual Fashion for a Passion charity event on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7 for Parties in the Dallas Design District. In an exciting new twist for this year’s show, Dallas singer songwriter Larry g(EE) will open and close the show while the slate of six other Asian American musicians and singers will play throughout the show and during this year’s new post-event wrap party.

“With the unintentional theme of ‘seven’ running throughout the show, we really do feel lucky to have the amazing array of talent for our event this year,” said Against The Grain President Tammy Nguyen Lee. “Our audience will enjoy the musical stylings of local favorites, a recent Kollaboration Dallas winner and even one of our 2015 ATG Artistic Scholarship winners. It will definitely be an evening no one will want to miss!”

The 2015 Fashion for a Passion musical performers include:

  • Larry g(EE) – Special Guest Performer
  • JONAVI
  • Robbie G and Peter P
  • Hannah Sansavath
  • Yut and The Hot Four

Read more

Going Against The Grain: 2015 ATG Scholarship Winners

2015 WinnersThe ATG Scholarship Committee is proud to announce the 2015 Scholarship Winners.  Scored based on strength of GPA, leadership/community involvement, portfolio/video submission, essays, letters of recommendation and a final phone interview, we again chose TEN students who are brilliant, shining examples of what it means to go Against The Grain. We are truly proud of this exceptional group and all that we know they will accomplish for their vocation and for the Asian American community in the future. We are also grateful to the family of Lyly Koenig Mendez and Bruce & Pat McRae for generously donating so that we could give three special scholarships this year!

And the winners are:

#LiveLikeLyly Memorial Scholarship

  • Lauren Padilla 
  • Tiffany Piko

ATG Artistic Scholarship

  • Elizabeth Chung-Brown
  • Katherine Del Rosario
  • Evan Harris
  • Rialin Jose
  • Suttinee Hannah Sansavath
  • Shine Wu
  • Angeline Young

Bruce & Pat McRae Scholarship

  • Sophie Chien

Read more