Meet the Fashion Designers

Born and raised in the Central Valley of California, Blai Ci Xiong's journey as a fashion designer is deeply rooted in her upbringing among immigrant parents who are dedicated farmers. Her family and farming community's resilience, hard work, and creativity inspire Blai Ci's innovative approach to fashion design.

Specializing in womenswear, Blai Ci creates pieces with timeless and shapeless silhouettes, offering a modern take on classic elegance with an edge.  Her designs are distinguished by their sophisticated yet versatile appeal, much as the timeless aspects of the farming way of life that influenced her values.

BY Design started back in 2011-2012 with the vision of creating evening gowns. BY stands for Be Youthful, Be Yourself, by Brandon Yang. This is a brand established to empower others to feel and look beautiful. While Fresno offered some valuable opportunities, he recognized these were limited compared to those in larger cities. BY has always dreamed of and aspires to launch a mass-produced clothing line. 

Yang attended California State University, Fresno and majored in Fashion Merchandising. Slowly, he has participated in many fashion shows with Revived 2, 3, Fashion Inc, and Hmong Nouveau Fashion Shows. He is currently the Campus Culture Director and Dance Teacher at Design Science Middle College High School in Fresno Unified School District.

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Born and raised in Southern California, Debbie graduated with her Associates in Arts in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), Class of 2001. She also has her BFA in Fashion Marketing and Design from American Intercontinental University (AIU), Class of 2003.

Debbie’s passion for the arts and fashion has always had a huge impact on her work and lifestyle. When she is not designing, Debbie enjoys all her free time with her son. As a mom, she see things with a greater meaning and purpose and her hopes are to capture and inspire that meaning through her designs.

Katherine Lee is an aspiring fashion designer of Hmong descent. Her passion for fashion began in her early childhood where her early exposure to a diversity of traditional Asian ethnic/cultural fashions, Japanese street fashion, avant-garde fashion, and stage costuming continue to influence her current work. Katherine believes that fashion is not only a form of self-expression but is also a means of challenging the self. Drawing inspiration from her Hmong-American identity and her love of storytelling and stage performance, her work explores the idea of duality. By seamlessly combining theatricality with simplicity and elements of traditional fashion with contemporary fashion, each of her works expresses the duality and complexity of the human experience.

As a little girl, Kia learned the different paj ntaub techniques just by watching her mom and other elder Hmong ladies around the neighborhood in their paj ntaub circles. She often recalled stitching her own paj ntaub pieces to make into her own Hmong clothing, which she couldn't wait to wear for photos and to the local Hmong New Year celebrations.

As an adult, Kia continues to practice the art of paj ntaub making and has mastered many of the techniques. She is also a self-taught fashion designer/seamstress, and learned how to pattern-draft & drape from scratch.  It makes her happy to be able to share many of her hand-made pieces with family, friends, and the entire Hmong community.

Paj Nras Vaj is a passionate fashion designer and the visionary behind the label PAJ NRAS VAJ. As creative director, she seamlessly merges classic sophistication with contemporary influences to redefine beauty and femininity. She established PAJ NRAS VAJ with a clear mission—to uplift women by instilling confidence, beauty, and poise. The brand offers refined pieces that outlast passing trends, ensuring enduring elegance for every stage of life. Paj Nras honors the strength and refinement of women, to curate collections that not only elevate personal style but also love very curve of their body. Through her work, she strives to create fashion that captivates and allows every woman to feel her best.