Jenn speaks to Irene Lu, founder and creative director of PILLOWBOOK, the first lingerie label to pioneer the modernization of the traditional Chinese lingerie "dudou" with art, culture, and fashion. A Taiwanese American based in Paris, Irene talks about her love for all things silk, her passion for lingerie, the rise in Asian hate which triggered her childhood trauma memories, body positivity, and what it took to create her own brand as a foreigner in Beijing and then again in Paris during covid. (Recorded on March 16, 2022)
About Irene:
Lu specialized in intimate apparel at NY Fashion Institute of Technology. She's been trained at multiple lingerie and beauty brands such as Jean Yu, Oscar de la Renta Intimates, Kiki de Montparnasse and Estee Lauder where she learned the relationship women have with their intimate products. In 2009, she moved to China to work alongside an Oscar winning designer and discover her Asian roots as an American-Taiwanese. After few years, Pillowbook was launched.
In between buying silks and designing silky underthings, Lu continues to freelance as costume designer for film, theater, and commercial events and have dressed celebrities such as Shuqi, Luhan, Yang Liping, Godfrey Gao, Hannah Quinlivan, Jason Isaacs, Fan BingBing and Lin ZhiLing. Idle moments are savored with her 2 year old son, 4-legged mutt and dessert. She currently resides in Paris eating way too many éclairs.
Episode Resources:
Cora Harrington from The Lingerie Addict
YANSAI - Gua bao makers in Paris.
"Know My Name" By Chanel Miller
"Furiously Happy" By Jenny Lawson
"The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing" by Bessel van der Kolk