On Lunar New Year, I entered St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery – a haven seemingly removed from the traffic jams, paparazzi, and sunglass-clad socialites congesting downtown NYC – eagerly awaiting a moment of levity. After all, Olivia Cheng’s Dauphinette, known for its resin flowers, upcycled Asian textiles, and trinkets-turned-embellishments that jingle down the runway, has been dubbed by the Creative Director and Founder herself as “the Happiest Brand on Earth.” But instead, the first model emerged, immediately eliciting a wave of goosebumps. She ambled down the runway in a black trench punctured with safety pins and chandelier crystals, casually holding a decapitated white bust in the nook of her arm.

Dauphinette’s FW24 collection, The Vegetarian, marked a pivotal moment in what is bound to be a long career. Founded in 2018, the label exudes unbridled imagination and utopic femininity. With two brick-and-mortar locations in NYC, the label has galvanised social media traction and ferociously proliferated so quickly that two pieces were displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s In America: The Lexicon of American Fashion (2022) – under the keyword “innocence.” At 23, Cheng was the youngest designer in history – and one of the few AAPI contemporary designers – showcased at The Met.

Only a voracious creative appetite can feed into such a resounding presence in the oversaturated, cutthroat world of contemporary fashion – and that ceaseless grit and ambition beneath Dauphinette’s fairytale-esque lyricism is precisely what this collection is about. Introducing a dark, sultry edge that encapsulates the designer’s remorseless appetite for creative satiety, The Vegetarian borrows its name from 3OH!3’s 2008 hit, “DONTTRUSTME”: “You tell your boyfriend, if he says he’s got beef / That I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fucking scared of him.” Cheng shared backstage that she wanted her audience to abandon their preconceived perception of the brand and to engage with “a more uncomfortable depiction of what my search is all about.” As Cheng wrote in her design notes, “Happiness isn’t what these clothes are all about; it’s the search for satisfaction and fullness.”

Cheng alluded to carnivorous imagery, replacing keys, trinkets, and the likes of her previous collections with metal cutlery, shark teeth, and broken glass. She upcycled animal hides and deadstocks, as well as materials from old collections – a rare industry practice –, as sustainability remains a central pillar of her work. “It was mostly because of limited time and resources, but I reinterpreted some old pieces,” Cheng notes. “After all, the collection is about making the most and doing the most and creating the most with what you can.”

One look – a personal favourite – featured embossed “push” and “pull” door hardwares and glass eyes on an upcycled cow leather dress and purse. The model unapologetically walked the runway with forks covering her eyes, taking on an edgier reinterpretation of Dauphinette’s penchant for humorous materials.

Another look featured an oversized wool jacket adorned with a skimpy trompe-l’œil veil-and-underwear-style design made of glass and plastic. Worn over a satin bridal underwear set, it imbued Dauphinette’s quirky aesthetic with a new layer of sex appeal. In true Dauphinette fashion, the model held a baguette purse – but embellished with oversized studs and safety pins.

Then there was the sexy sheer organza set, another crowd-pleaser, adorned with black and red safety pins. I envisioned Harley Quinn in her daintiest lingerie with the Joker-esque makeup and faux-prosciutto leather purse – which was made from a concoction of mushroom and shrimp shell waste and embellished with a pâté knife.

Cheng, who called herself a “growing, sartorial, starving girl” in a poised, soft-spoken manner, reflected with vulnerability and ferocity through this collection. “I’m equal parts whimsical and insatiable, ethereal and feral, kind-eyed and cold-blooded. I’m a practising vegetarian in a ferociously carnal state of mind,” she shares.

Coinciding with Lunar New Year, a time for introspection and regeneration in Cheng’s and my shared Chinese American culture, the collection was especially significant to the designer – and it made me, too, pause and think before returning to my fashion week itinerary.

It facilitated a reflection on the duality inherent to achieving power and success in the rat race of the fashion industry, especially as a young AAPI woman who must battle her way to the runway. It left me reflecting upon what it means to be what Cheng calls “an artist practising guiltlessness” – on how uninhibited individuality, integrity, and wonder can coexist with ferocity and resilience, on how only a love for one’s craft so unapologetic, so insatiable can propel them to the runway. “This collection is a response to all that carnivorous lust,” Cheng says about the brand’s evolution. “For a seat at the table, the satisfaction of feeling expert at something, the unsinkable feeling that my flowers are growing into something a little thornier.”