Award-winning designer Yeohlee Teng 邓姚莉 was born in Malaysia and has worked primarily in New York City, where she established her house, YEOHLEE Inc, in 1981. Yeohlee believes that design comes from serving a function and is refined through time and process. Her designs are driven by material, maximizing the use of each fabric by thoughtful consideration of weight, texture, color, cut and finishing. She believes that “Clothes have magic. Their geometry forms shapes that can lend a wearer power.” Yeohlee’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions internationally and is part of the permanent collection at the metropolitan Museum of Art, where curator Richard Martin called her “one of the most ingenious makers of clothing today. Yeohlee’s clothes conserve and impart energy for they are the synthesis of reason and magic.” YEOHLEE’s Collection is – and has always been – designed, developed and produced in New York City. Made in New York has the advantage of a quick “just in time” response that is critical in today’s economy. This accessibility promotes efficiency, conserves time, energy and resources, and ties in with Yeohlee’s Zero Waste philosophy. YEOHLEE : WORK published in 2003 surveys the first 20 years of her practice with essays by prominent fashion, art and design curators and critics. Yeohlee is the recipient of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National design Award for Fashion in 2004.