COMMISSION

Working moms' sons from seaside towns grow up and meet in New York.

They're the men behind Commission, a brand steeped in Asian culture, and their gaze has created another portrait of their mothers.

 

21SS Commission ⓒCommission

 

Memories From a Wardrobe

In the bustling heart of New York, two first-generation immigrant men are creating deeply East Asian-inspired womenswear. Commission embodies their shared childhood memories.

 

Jin Kay and Dylan Cao ⓒ@davidsiwickicommunication

ⓒ@commissionofficial

   

Commission draws from childhood memory: mom’s weekend work outfit, evening living‑room scenes from ‘90s East Asian homes. Their debut collection paints it clearly. Crisp‑pressed blouses, skirts that seem to have been rolled up mid‑rush. A time when calm and restraint were strangely tangled together. Commission sparked from those microscopic memories.

 

Commission’s first collection, SS19

Commission SS19 ⓒ@commissionofficial

 

Their runway isn’t all cinematic glamour. Instead it breathes with real‑world intimacy: the chill of an air conditioner (or the heat of saving money on the electricity bill), the aroma of a dawn commute, the mysterious fabric smell from a crumpled skirt. Conservative, yet unshakably elegant. A tension built on utility, like something that says “Mom went to work today showing that power dressing doesn’t have to mean Western dressing.” Less macho armor, more poised woman claiming space in a professional world. These are the parts of East Asian culture recalled in Commission’s designs, less maximalist re-imaginations and more quiet, detailed memories.

 

Commission SS19 ⓒ@commissionofficial

  

When you look at VAQUERA, you immediately think “America.” Cowboys, cheerleaders, prom queens, all those parodies from American teen movies, that’s VAQUERA. If VAQUERA is a remix of America, then Commission is an immigrant’s translation of the East. It’s not about trendy Orientalism in the 2020s; it’s about the real, practical, and precarious beauty that actually existed in women’s daily lives. Commission’s nostalgia starts in the concrete, everyday choice of a shirt their mothers nervously picked out before work when they were teenagers.

 

ⓒ@commissionofficial

    

Memories Beginning in Chinatown, an Unexpected Journey

 

21SS Commission ⓒCommission

  

Their story begins simply enough, a typical encounter at Parsons with an outcome anything but ordinary. Jin Kay, Huy Luong, Dylan Cao: from Korea to Vietnam and eventually landing in New York City. Their creative synergy sparked amid leftover dim sum on a messy birthday table in Chinatown. Huy has since stepped back from the business side, but continues to leave his influence on the brand while shooting it’s campaign photos.

 

Jin Kay, Dillon Cao, Huy Luong©Forbes

Korean-born Jin Kay and Vietnamese-born Dylan Cao, current co-leaders of Commission © Highsnobiety / Hailey Heaton

 

In the 2020s United States, two male designers deconstruct and reassemble 80s–90s East Asian womenswear. In the clash between past and present, work and home, and masculinity and femininity, the silhouette of Commission is born.

 

Commission FW20, Commission SS25 ⓒ@commissionofficial

  

What they’re doing is less about restoration, more about tenaciously digging at what the past means to us now. Why them? Why their mothers’ wardrobes? Maybe it’s because the most personal story can strike the most universal chord, a long-standing truth in fashion.
   

Expansion Beyond Mom’s Jacket

 

Commission FW21 ⓒCommission

 

Their exploration didn't stop with their mothers' wardrobes. In the fall of 2021, their menswear collection debuted as a natural extension of this creative vision. You’ll find camp collar shirts that evoke a father's closet, knitted polos with subtly faded colors, and relaxed wool gabardine pants. The designers explain, "Menswear is an exploration of our fathers, uncles, and the male archetypes in popular culture of that era." By sharing codes from their womenswear, but presenting them in a more understated and restrained way, the menswear collection demonstrates that Commission's narrative isn't limited to one gender's memories; it's about the universal memory of "family."

 

Commission FW22

Model Mika Schneider for ©Commission

   

Instead of vague or trendy, more stereotypical references to "Asian culture," Commission delves into the essence of it with precise tailoring and unexpected style combinations. A tailored jacket meets a long, flowing slip dress; floral shirts pair effortlessly with wide-legged pants. The worn, nostalgic elements of a parent’s wardrobe become infused with a fresh, new ideas and modern concepts.

 

Commission FW20

Longtime followers of the brand will notice a shift towards more casual, relaxed styling compared to earlier collections. If the early pieces paid homage to practical elegance, recent collections increasingly reflect influences from family and friends, embracing the diverse beauty of loved ones. Commission’s layers continue expanding, presenting new-yet-nostalgic silhouettes with more daring layering for each new collection.

 

Commission SS24 ⓒCommission

Commission FW25, Commission SS26 ⓒCommission

Commission SS26 ⓒCommission

 

Commission shows that unexpected beauty truly happens when different things come together, offering the world one of its first glimpses into womenswear from the perspective of immigrant men, and intricately weaving together Eastern memories with contemporary styles.