Name: Nyla Hasan
Age: 35
residence: Lahore, Pakistan
Currently lives: In a antebellum four-bedroom apartment in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn with her partner, Aziz Hasan, the CEO of Kickstarter, and two children.
Claim to fame: Mrs. Hasan was the design director for Tanya Taylor before starting her own women’s clothing line, the Other. Reflecting her mixed identity (her father is from Pakistan; her mother is of French Canadian and European descent), the line combines traditional South Asian craftsmanship with modern designs and bright colors. “It’s fashion that explores identity through storytelling and craftsmanship,” she said. “My father was an immigrant. He came here in the ’70s and had me. What is the story of those born in this country? What is the story of belonging now?”
Breakthrough: After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2007, she worked as a designer for Tory Burch and Elie Tahari. But it was at Tanya Taylor where Ms. Hasan felt her input was really appreciated. “Tanya took a chance,” she said. ms. Hasan hand beaded floral crystal embellishments on velvet bomber jackets and dresses. One of those Tanya Taylor dresses was worn by Michelle Obama, then the first lady, at a Christmas party at the White House in 2016. “My voice was heard and my ideas were valid,” Ms Hasan said.
Latest project: In September, after two years of conception, design and production, Ms. Hasan released the first collection of Øther, a series of trousers and tops with colorful patterns and richly embroidered patterns. Pants start at $155. One of her tops, the Kurta Not a Tunic, is based on the traditional collarless long shirt worn by South Asian men and women on a daily basis, adding subtle references to Western clothing: slits on the sides; a strap at the back for cinching. It blurs the line between East and West, traditional and modern, masculine and feminine.
Next thing: Ms. Hasan explores the identity of a mixed race in an upcoming video series that asks a deceptively simple question: Where are you from? Ms. Hasan recently interviewed a New Yorker who is of Japanese, Chilean and Jewish descent, she said. “For her, where she comes from is an idea of nostalgia: eating octopus balls at summer festivals in Tokyo; her grandmother’s garden in Mirasol. She told me, ‘The motherland for me is where I feel whole and full.’”
Do not waste: In 2019, Ms. Hasan began volunteering at Fabscrap, an organization that seeks to minimize commercial textile waste by recycling unused fabric. When she first visited the warehouse in the Brooklyn Army Terminal, “my jaw dropped,” she said. “There were garbage bags up to the ceiling.” She used what she learned: each piece is made to order; discarded materials are reused; and traditional crafts are respected.
