(gentle music) - Water, it's just been such a source of inspiration.

(water bubbling) (gentle music continues) Being in the water helps to relax my mind and think of creative ideas.

Whenever I have a creative puzzle, when I feel like I'm sort of stuck, going swimming really helps.

My name is Fuchsia Lin.

I'm an artist, costume designer, fashion designer, and filmmaker.

I'm always pushing to break outside the box.

And so, when this musician, Zairah, and Wieden + Kennedy approached me to design and fabricate this gender-nonconforming quinceanera dress, I just thought, this is the perfect project for me.

Just bring it on.

I really love creating this cape structure which was meant to resemble a typical silhouette of a quinceanera dress.

And then, inside of the cape, I designed this hot pink bullfighter suit.

And for Zairah, I had a lot of symbolism that just had this, like, toughness to it, but it's in hot pink.

And I could really relate to that because when I was a kid growing up, I really struggled with the expectations of my culture.

(gentle music) Expectations of what a little girl should wear, what a little girl should be like.

I was this shy kid and I felt very isolated at school because my family had just emigrated from Taiwan.

And we were one of two Asian families in the whole town.

Art was really my companion.

I loved drawing and painting.

We were really pushed very hard to choose a profession, such as law, medicine, or engineering.

It was just a struggle for me to define my parents' expectations in order to pursue my own dreams.

I just realized how empowering it was for me to learn how to sew so that I could create this identity that I was really struggling to find.

So, because of that, I decided that I wanted to become a fashion designer.

(upbeat music) After college, I attended Parsons School of Design in New York City.

It's one of the best design schools in the country.

But after a few years, I realized that designing garments that would be mass-produced wasn't really what I was dreaming of doing.

(water splashing) (water bubbling) I began working at a costume fabrication studio.

I made costumes for "Phantom of the Opera," "The Lion King," "The Little Mermaid," and many other Broadway shows.

I started to feel burned-out on New York City.

And that's when I decided to move to Portland in 2007.

(gently moving music) Recently, I was commissioned to create 12 costumes for the Oregon Ballet Theater.

(pencil scratching) They wanted to have pedestrian-inspired costumes, basically like this streetwear look, the no-costume look.

When I was first approached, I didn't think that this was gonna be the right project for me because my costume work is fantastical and otherworldly and extravagant.

(gently moving music continues) I've worked with many of the dancers for several years now, and they're really my muse.

Okay, ready for Charlotte.

I take into consideration their style, their personal preferences, what their body shape is.

- [Charlotte] Yeah, that's good.

- More than half of the designs in the performance are jumpsuits, which is very unexpected for ballet because in the world of ballet, you usually see leotards and tutus and tights.

(upbeat rhythmic music) (upbeat rhythmic music continues) And I'm really, really glad that I did work on this project because it was such a cool collaboration.

But I was really proud of seeing my designs on the stage.

(water bubbling) (mysterious music) I had to crowdfund to raise the money to make my first film.

But a few years later, I finally completed my short film.

It went on to win me a scholarship award to study fashion filmmaking at the London College of Fashion.

I love having all this detail in my work because that's what really makes it special and beautiful.

I just love seeing my costumes in motion, in performances, and in film.

They really just come to life when they're in motion.

(footsteps thudding) Oh my gosh, wow.

"Future Cosmos Flow" is the second film in my film trilogy.

It's inspired by mythology.

It's like water versus fire.

Okay, we have to start shooting really soon.

It's this magical fairy tale that really relates to climate change.

All right, action.

(winding blowing) Okay, stop and look to the left.

Okay, poof out your cape.

Okay, good.

And we should keep going.

I love using the medium of filmmaking to feature my costumes.

(ethereal music) I began "Future Cosmos Flow" in 2014.

And my father had just passed away.

I was just beginning to process this loss.

I felt like this block of ice that was cracking and it was beginning to melt.

(ethereal music continues) I really wanted to create this film to inspire people to feel a sense of hope for our future.

(ethereal music continues) I wanted people to feel emotions and, like, they had some kind of magical experience through my art.

(water bubbling) (no audio) (no audio)