Meng Tong (PROFILE)


I hope my design becomes part of a larger conversation— not a declaration, but a gesture: a tribute to memory, a voice for survival, and a step toward becoming whole.



Cracked Poster Print Fabric Overcoat and Poster print wrapped-around skrit
G-Shaped Pocket Snap-Tie Detail Jacket

Snap-Front Jogger Pants Reconstructed from Recycled Leather Jackets
Tailored Suit with Cracked Print Detail and Flowing Snap Ties
Printed Letter “A” Tank Top with Snap-Button Pleated Wool Plaid Pants

Aligned Poster Print Snap Shirt
High-Waisted Back-Opening Poster Print Pants with Snap Closures
Snap-Detailed Pleated Tanktop and Flowing Snap-Tie Tanktop
Recycled Denim Patchwork and Poster Print Neo-print Fabric Tanktop
Triple-Waistband Recycled Denim Shorts



Credits

Designer

Meng Tong @_cygne

tongm648@newschool.edu


Photographer

Yueyan Lin @_yuillim1999


Talents

Devin Leadbeater @devin.leadbeater

Anthony Antenucci @itsanthony_a

Tomas De Keulenaer @tomasdekeulenaer

Ryan Zhensheng Lin @ryann_lin_


Instructors

Daniel Salmon @danielmarksalmon

Ranjit Lalvani @ranjitchristopherlalvani


Special thanks

Zhimeng Liu @zhimeng_odn

Muyun Sun @muyun_sun

Jackson Feng @jackson_feng_

Xiaohan Chang @xiaohhan_chang
Project Statement



I grew up in a traditional Chinese household, surrounded by deeply rooted gender roles and cultural expectations. Ideas centered around family continuity, social conformity, and heteronormativity created an invisible web that profoundly shaped the way I viewed myself and the world. As I gradually realized that my identity differed from these expectations, I found myself caught between silence and self-exploration, searching for a way to express a self that could coexist with inherited beliefs.

Coming to Parsons and living in New York marked a turning point. For the first time, I was immersed in a more open and inclusive environment—one where the identity that once felt isolating was met with understanding and acceptance. I began to critically reflect on how culture, memory, and power shape identity, not only in daily life but across history.

While researching the stories of marginalized communities, particularly the queer liberation movement, I became drawn to the marks of time, the tension between fragility and resilience, and the ways garments could be reshaped, adapted, and transformed. I was deeply moved by the emotional weight carried by secondhand clothing and began to explore the subtle balance between concealment and revelation. By deconstructing and reconstructing old garments into new patchworks and structures, I discovered a quiet but powerful form of expression.

In this ongoing creative journey, design has become a way for me to navigate personal memory, cultural tension, and the urgency of sustainability. Every design decision becomes part of a larger conversation—not a declaration, but a gesture: a tribute to memory, a voice for survival, and a step toward becoming whole.

PROJECT 。