To PH5 Founders Wei Lin and Zoe Champion, Fashion Is About So Much More Than Clothes

SKYLI ALVAREZ

Ask any designer about the inspiration behind their work, and they’ll speak of their muse. Ask PH5 designers Wei Lin and Zoe Champion, and they’ll bring up the Titicaca water frog. It’s an unexpected amphibian to pay homage to at Fashion Week, but then again, PH5 is a label that readily embraces surprise.

Founded by Lin, the daughter of a knitwear manufacturer, in 2014 and designed by Champion, PH5 is the contemporary knitwear brand quashing old stereotypes by stitching function and play together. Its name refers to the pH scale’s measurement of acidity – a pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic, so a pH of 5 brings a lot of edge and a bit of girlishness to the mix. “Playfulness is always at the heart of PH5,” Champion tells Teen Vogue. “Sometimes, I want to create beautiful, romantic things, but what’s fun about that?” she says, as Lin chimes in to ask, “How do we make it weird?”

It’s perhaps for that reason then that for their Spring/Summer 2025 collection, Lin and Champion selected the frog, which was among 2013’s contenders for ugliest animal, as a point of inspiration. Dubbed “Save the Ugly Animals,” the idea behind the collection came from a trip Champion took to Lake Titicaca in South America several years ago. Nestled in the Andes Mountains, between Bolivia and Peru, it’s the largest lake of the region, the highest navigable lake on the globe, and home to none other than the water frog. In recent years, the lake’s water levels have reached alarming lows due to extreme weather, while the water frogs have become critically endangered. A beautiful lake, an ugly frog, both affected by climate change, are what pushed the brand to make this collection.

“I created a print of the lake receding in the background while the sand takes over and a little frog looks at the shoreline wistfully. We present the frog in different ways throughout, either on the lake, [with] its face across a shirt, or jumping,” Champion explains. “We add in these little moments of oddness for our audience to discover.”

“When people think of PH5, I want them to think of us as an experimental knit laboratory,” Lin says. To her and Champion, knitwear is far more than a fabric you dust off for just a single season. Over the years, the label has introduced knitted puffers, matching sleepwear sets made of hyaluronic-infused yarn, and compression activewear for sports performance.

Its signature UV-reactive pieces span most collections and transform into beachy bright pinks and blues in the sun — which apparently a past buyer was unaware of, only realizing once she attended a neutral-toned family luncheon and found herself turning pink.

New to this season are reflective knits that transform under camera flash and a greater push for sportswear. “We’re really trying hard to blend functionality with design by making sure every piece has the right fabrication, right stitch,” Lin said. “But in a way, you wouldn’t expect it to be functional just by looking at it,” Champion adds.

Speaking as an athlete herself, Lin stresses the importance of clothing wearers can wash, tumble dry, and sweat in. “They should feel good to move around in,” she said, having worn the brand’s leggings on runs, taking careful note of what works and what needs adjusting. Lin isn’t here to make pretty clothes that are useless or inhibiting; PH5 is all about motion. Champion elaborates, “It was only when our customers actually took the pieces, lived, and had all these experiences in them that we felt their true power.”

“Our girl lives in both worlds. She is turning up to a dinner, she is accidentally being the star of a family lunch. But she’s also running around, she’s involved,” says Champion. This sense of involvement is especially relevant to “Save the Ugly Animals,” staged on Sunday, September 8, at Elizabeth Street Garden in New York City’s Nolita neighborhood. After scouring “every green space in the city,” Lin and Champion describe the one-acre space as their long-time dream runway location, a personal refuge from the rush of New York.

With its weekly roster of community events and ornate display of limestone sculptures, Roman-style columns, and iron-wrought seating tucked underneath a canopy of trees, there’s no questioning the 200-year-old garden’s a favorite amongst locals and tourists.

Now, under the widely criticized threat of closure to make way for housing, a cry for preserving the urban green space rings louder than ever, and PH5’s theme takes on new significance. Attached to the show’s email invitations were links to write to Mayor Eric Adams and donate to the garden’s preservation efforts.

“Knitting has been political from the beginning,” says Champion in reference to nineteenth-century sewing circles. “It was a way for women to come together and talk about politics [and is] such a vehicle for them to have power.” Though PH5’s idea of knitwear is anything but traditional, one can see how the brand honors this history. From cargo twill knit blends to terry cloth and gardening glove accessories, SS25’s utilitarian-inspired pieces reinforce literal and figurative mobilization.

Pink color-changing frogs holding picket signs that read “Save the ugly animals” adorn the shirts of the new collection. Photographs of Lin’s mother’s factory in Dongguan, China, decorated Spring 2024 Ready-To-Wear in celebration of its garment workers, while Fall 2023 RTW saw the effects of plastic on marine life through trash bag petticoats and neckerchiefs. Across each season, underneath bold colors, sinuous shapes, and kaleidoscopic prints lies a statement that ties back to sustainability and activism.

“We wanted to create a collection that people could feel like they’re proactive in,” explained Champion. “Everyone can take action, [whether it’s] as big as being in a protest or as small as volunteering at your local community garden.” As their show came to a close, Lin and Champion speedran the garden path in head-to-toe PH5, disappearing behind the lush greenery. One can only begin to imagine what new knit innovation they’re running toward, though, for now, we’ll have to wait and see.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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