Introducing our Cut Fruit Collection

As a child of asian immigrants, growing up in LA during the 90s meant a lot of things. It meant patterns, music, colour and love - my grandma’s love language was food: specifically, cut fruit. She would bring me plates of sliced mango, apple and melon while eating the cores and peels in the kitchen. This was a metaphor that would govern my whole life with my mom still doing this for me as an adult, reserving the best parts for me and eating cores.

Our new collection is based on that cut fruit love metaphor.  We decided to create a collection for kids (and soon for adults) that represented a layer of our identity. This collection champions the food from asian cultures. After giving birth to our two children, Aukiwa and Amaia, we decided to materialize cut fruit love onto clothing. Just as Aukiwa and Amaia are our babies, the Cut Fruit Collection is the baby of Self Sovereignty - a deeply personal representation of which I wish I had when I was a child.

I’m sure many of my asian peers can relate to being ridiculed for having rice or fish for lunch at school - this collection is a direct push back against that. It highlights asian foods as identity markers, emboldening kids with confidence as they rock their cultural cuisines, many of which have acted not only as sustenance but as nourishment for the body, soul and spirit. 

Cut Fruit Collection: confidence and comfort with the 90s vibes we love.

Chloe is a digital and multimedia artist who enjoys using her art as a way to connect and interact with people. She started her digital art journey by posting quick doodles she had drawn up in the borders of her university lecture notes - hence the name "lilclodoodles" - and has since had her doodles published in Craccum Magazine and on her own apparel. Chloe is excited to have collaborated with Jonie on this project, and would like to thank her for the excuse to stare at pictures of yummy food all day.

Good Bad English is a Malaysian-Chinese-Kiwi currently based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her art is inspired by growing up Asian. Combining this with her love of Asian snacks has resulted in the re-imagination of childhood favourites mainly in the form of stickers and prints. When she's not drawing, she's a full time PhD student.