Joy Mao is a Chinese American fashion designer and textile artist based in Brooklyn, New York — using clothing as a medium for illuminating the bonds between self and society. How do our clothes shape the way we understand ourselves, our relationships with others, and the ways we move through our worlds? This year, Joy founded a slow fashion studio called Chores (@chores.world) that creates space for a uniquely collaborative way of making. Each season begins with a cohort of creators and an intimate personal story. The resulting objects (clothing, accessories, homewares, and other artwork) serve as talismans that ground us to this world, share evocative tales, and connect us to each other across space and time. Gowanus Open Studios visitors can view and shop the inaugural 2025 Chores collection (see photos below), and the collaborative process that created it. Website: chores.world Instagram: @chores.world

joy mao is a slow fashion studio creating small batches of thoughtfully-made clothing, accessories, and artwork. The brand centers people, process, and pleasure—in pursuit of a more sustainable and joyful way of being. Joy Mao is a Chinese American fashion designer and textile artist based in Brooklyn, New York — using clothing as a medium for illuminating the bonds between self and society. How do our clothes shape the way we understand ourselves, our relationships with others, and the ways we move through our worlds? How can clothing support and sustain life, rather than exploit it? Her work recognizes and celebrates human effort—the kind of labor that people engage in, both individually and in community with others, to create with care. Though this kind of effort derives from a deep and transformative place of love, it is often overlooked and undervalued. Joy designs and constructs intimate spaces—from clothing to gathering places—to support those who work to build a more just and beautiful world. Joy holds a BA Fundamentals from the University of Chicago and an AAS Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design. From 2021-2024, she was a Creatives Rebuild New York Teaching Artist at The W.O.W. Project in Manhattan Chinatown.