3rd Place Winner

Pearl Peng-Hui Lu was born on February 5, 2003 in Budapest, Hungary. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School with a focus in Fine Arts, and is currently receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree education at Parsons School of Design as a fashion design major and photography minor student.

囍 is a character which appears in Chinese weddings; it appears as a red paper decoration cut-out, directly translating into “double happiness.” Thousands of glass beads are used in the making of Pearl’s “double happiness” top, having weight on the human body, just like the burdens that come with marriage.

The clear beads are to symbolize a blank slate, like a piece of paper, and red, the color of prosperity in some cultures, is also the color of blood, symbolizing the sacrifices that love can cause.

“Double Happiness” literally portrays the mood, setting, and colour of Chinese weddings, as the character (xǐ) weaved on the glass-beaded top is one that appears in Chinese weddings as a red paper decoration cut-out, directly translating into “double happiness.”

Often finding inspiration in things that she is unsure about, Pearl takes a modern approach on the ideology of marriage in Eastern culture. Marriage and love is delicate, just like paper. When two people get married, they sign and stamp a piece of paper, which can be damaged many years later.

In her design, Pearl uses delicate materials, as delicate as human relationships. The glass-beaded garment weighs down the shoulders, just as one has to carry the burdens and sacrifices that come with marriage. The mending and fixing in the garments symbolize a façade of a picture-perfect love story. Pearl says, “Still, I dream of a happy love story for myself. I think about how I will have this exact character big and bold and red, hung on the ceilings of my own wedding.”