English: Jessica Gedge

Chinese: Lisa Fang

Photographer: Tina Shang Shang Guo, Picni Studios Production: Lisa Fang

Even though she studied business and pursued a career in analytics, Emily had long experienced the pull to follow her childhood artistic passions. The large earrings she wore for work became the catalyst to start her own business: J.Y. Gao, a line of kinetic jewellery. By designing her own products, she was able to create a line that would have massive stylistic impact, without the heaviness (and pain!) that was often typical of large-scale jewellery. As she describes it, “I needed to develop something that could be edgy, elegant and light to wear… all at the same time.”

Born in Harbin, China, and raised in Toronto, Emily had a traditional Asian upbringing. This included parents who, naturally, encouraged her to pursue a livelihood that would be financially sound. She dutifully fulfilled her parents’ expectations, studying business and starting a stable career. They were pleased.

Until…

J.Y. GAO時尚珠寶品牌，被兩度提名「CAFA 加拿大藝術與時尚大獎」，更獲邀參加「加拿大時尚150年展覽」，其設計師及創始人高婧瑤（Emily Gao）更被Fashion History Museum譽為加拿大最具創意的新晉設計師之一。時至今日，J.Y. GAO已在北美和歐洲多個城市的藝術館及精品店內展出，作品開闢了獨特的「一動一靜」風格而受到注目。

夢想 ‧ 堅守

很多人以為這才華橫溢的女孩是美術學院科班出身，事實上Emily是商科畢業生。十歲隨家人從中國移民加拿大，她自小便對時尚藝術有著濃厚的興趣，但在大學還是選擇了父母認為較「穩妥」的商科， 於畢業後從事顧問工作。現實未有令熱愛減退，Emily作為一個忙碌但又愛美的上班族，每天都會花盡心思穿出自己的亮點，耳飾配襯是她的首選。簡約的行政服裝，配上別緻、有存在感的耳環，是她最常用的穿搭技巧。久而久之，Emily發覺有存在感的耳環，往往在重量上也是實實在在的有「存在感」，一天工作下來耳垂就會很疼痛。尋找一副前衛優美、但是又輕巧的耳環，對她成為了一個困擾。

2016年，在偶然機會下，Emily接觸到Toronto Fashion Incubator（TFI），一個於多倫多專門提拔新晉設計師的組織，並參與了其Fashion Your Future設計大賽。賽前提供為期六週的培訓包括構思、創作、運營、推廣等，讓Emily了解到一個時尚品牌如何由零開始，也對時尚行業有了更系統性的認識。這次的機遇給了她向藝術事業踏出第一步的勇氣。參與培訓的初期，Emily 並沒有明確的設計目標，但上班期間耳飾過重的困擾突然啟發 了她，飾品設計便成為了她參賽作品的方向。

She realized she missed her love of artistic expression that she had since childhood.

Emily continued to try to think of how her passion for art and design could manifest itself more in her everyday life. And what are we if we don’t reflect what we love? So she decided to teach herself how to design jewellery – something she had always wanted to do, but had held back on because of wanting to live up to her family’s expectations.

What there is no holding back on, though, is Emily’s body of work. Her lack of a formal design background — which she initially thought would be a hindrance — actually ended up being a blessing. It allowed her to create work that has a fresh appeal while using concepts that ventured beyond the realm of traditional design thinking and aesthetics. Emily describes her designs as “What I feel is right.” This unique perspective on jewellery is what helped her to earn accolades from the jewellery and design industry almost immediately.

While she was still working full-time in 2016, Emily participated in the Fashion Your Future accessories design competition hosted by the Toronto Fashion Incubator. It was a six-week program that taught her the foundations of starting a jewellery business. Placing in the Top Five of the competition gave her the confidence she needed to launch her company. This was clearly the right decision, proven by the fact that she went on to win the 2018 Tianfu International Design Competition and was subsequently selected as one of ten fashion designers to represent Canada during London Fashion Week in 2019.

What inspires this artistic powerhouse? Emily has a unique design process to capture what she sees: the body as a moving landscape. When she creates, she considers how each piece of jewellery she designs will interact with the body’s movement; shifting to display different shapes and forms. “We are active creatures after all, and we generate so much kinetic energy which can be transferred onto the jewellery that we wear. If I’m designing a pair of earrings, I will consider the fact that we nod or shake our heads and how that will change the earrings' appearance.”

一動‧一靜

Emily認為：「人體的動態是優美的，每一個動作都是一幅景緻。如果將人體動態融入飾品，用設計捕捉生活中的美，便能保留動態中最美的景緻。」在TFI設計大賽中，她便展示了一個首飾新概念，加入了「動態」（kinetic）的元素，令耳飾隨著身體的活動而千變萬化，為整體造型添上點睛之筆。這種一動一靜的設計概念令大賽評委對她留下深刻印象並贏了比賽，隨之她的個人的時尚珠寶品牌 —— J.Y. GAO正式誕生。

前衛、優雅、輕盈是J.Y. GAO品牌的特點，其獨特的「動態」元素讓飾品加添了靈動、更吸引。「用設計去捕捉生活中一瞬間的動態，留在耳邊，仿似錄像般隨著你的行動，不斷重複播放。」這是Emily讓筆者留下非常深刻印象的一句話。回想第一次看到她設計的「加拿大150週年國慶」楓葉耳環便是這種感覺 。楓葉耳環以硬朗的金屬線條，加上靈動的設計還原了楓葉被風吹動飄搖的感覺。這對耳環更被加拿大總理夫人蘇菲杜魯多的造型師一眼看中，成為總理夫人出席公眾場合的配飾之一。

設計‧取捨

Emily分享說：「從品牌創立到現在，表面看似一路走來很順利，實質也遇到過不少困難。其中以設計中遇到的取捨是最難的」。品牌伊始，追求獨一無二的藝術性，偏向高端定制。後來，Emily又想把設計給更多人受惠，於是開始了第一個取捨決定。面對潮流和顧客需求，怎樣才能保持自己品牌的特點，又同時兼顧市場不隨波逐流，這些取捨更是困難，因為有潮流就有過時，如何讓設計更加經得起時間考驗？以銀飾為主的J.Y. GAO因此加入了金色的元素，還有鏈條的設計，讓設計在跟隨潮流的同時兼顧經典。

Take her maple leaf earrings for example: she envisioned the pieces mimicking the movement of a maple leaf dancing in the wind. To achieve this, Emily deconstructed the design into three separate kinetic components so that when the wearer is still, the earrings look like a maple leaf. But when the wearer is nodding or swaying, the kinetic components spin and swirl, just like a real leaf falling from a tree. Engineering, meet art.

Emily also draws heavily on her Canadian and Chinese culture. “I think my best work happens when I marry the aesthetics of both cultures in a harmonious way, because I feel like that truly represents who I am.”

The delicate embroidery detail you see in the earrings is a highly-specialized form called Sichuan Embroidery. Artisans in China have been using this technique for almost 2000 years; they work with silk threads so thin that they are almost invisible to the human eye. The result is a soft, smooth, watercolour-like effect that seems to float inside the frame. The artistry involved in this art form is immense: it takes years to learn and decades to master. It is exactly by combining this ancient method of needlework with contemporary metal frames that Emily unites modern Canadian culture with more traditional Chinese cultural details so effectively. These pieces are often conversation-starters – the perfect segue for opportunity to speak to both her Canadian or Chinese backgrounds.

With J.Y. Gao, Emily has managed to find the perfect balance between her artistic talents and her knack for being able to fabricate pieces that move with the body. Her line continues to wow us with its modern sensibilities that somehow manages to be true to the culture that inspired them in the first place.

動態‧蜀繡

2018年，高婧瑤獲邀參加中國成都的手工業產品和農產品設計界的奧斯卡 —— 天府途禮全球創意設計大賽。這次比賽讓Emily與中國四大名繡之首「蜀繡」結緣 。蜀繡的一針一線，以欽緞和彩絲為主要原料，運用獨特的繡技，使繡品在不同光線下有著不同顏色的變化。第一次接觸到這傳統技藝的Emily就被其栩栩如生的勾勒所吸引，參賽的作品也因而創新地揉合了時尚與蜀繡，比賽亦取得了二等獎的好成績。

作為華裔加拿大人的Emily，認為自己最好的作品應該要和諧地展現中西文化的締結美。即使比賽結束，仍然被蜀繡魅力所震撼的她，覺得二千多年歷史的名繡還有更大創作空間， 可以以一個更加日常、親近的方式展示給世界。Emily未來將挑戰以傳統的蜀繡技藝，配合慣常的中式花鳥圖案以外的現代圖案，這想法不論在設計技巧與藝術上均極具挑戰，無畏無懼的Emily打算把這熱愛一直好好做下去。設計的英文 "design"，拉丁語意指 "to give significance"。真正的好設計能回應需求、解決問題、改變世界！高婧瑤的J.Y. GAO何止是好設計，更是帶領文化前進的嚮導。

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