Meet Azy Chyr | Fashion Designer // Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Azy Chyr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Azy, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am from Singapore. I was born there and came to the States when I was six and moved from Colorado to Houston. Growing up, I moved around a lot, so I adapted to the culture around me and tried to define my identity as an Asian American.

A big part of my impact of who I was a little girl that got bullied for her mismatched clothes and hand-me-downs and bowl cut hair. They threw me in whatever clothes they could get their hands on, and I was picked on and bullied in school for my strange food and frumpy clothes. It all started when I entered high school, when I decided to recreate myself with what little I had, working odd jobs during the summer and telling my mom to drop me off at the local library while she went to work. She came back. My hair was completely blonde and chopped off into a punky bob cut. I had walked to the hair salon down the street.

But that day, I decided I could be whoever I wanted to be. I learned sewing in high school, and from that day onwards, I have become an architect of style, for the body is a foundation, and expression is whatever you build on top of it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
AZY CHYR is a multi-dimensional brand. A singer, songwriter, fashion designer & creative director. My recent release of Get High has gained recognition in an article for Houston Press. In 2024, I am launching my fashion brand to empower men and women with gender-fluid, gender-neutral clothing to be able to dress femininely and masculinely, for we are Yin and Yang and cannot have one without the other.

CHYR is my last name, which means body of water in Chinese. Water is fluid, powerful, embracing, and yet dangerous. My creative journey has not been easy by any means. Trying to navigate between financial stability and creative freedom, I had to learn to balance the two. But in the hardest lessons lately, I had to learn to let go and trust in myself. Quitting a job that was no longer serving me and dived all the way into my creative endeavors because I had a choice to find another job that I didn’t like or give it my all and see what happens for the next year. I’m taking the steps necessary to be a student of whatever life has to teach me and to be the lens that shares its beauty.

The Dao greatly influences my works; you cannot have light without the dark and dark without the light. It is the philosophy I live by. One of the teachings is Wu Wei, which means the act of not doing. My practice in fashion and music has taught me not to force things and to let them come naturally. You can’t force your plants to grow any faster than they already are if you’ve done the work, like putting them in sunlight and giving them nutrients and water. You can’t yell at it. Grow faster or pour too much water on it, or it’ll drown. The idea will come on its own, and when it does, ACT.

The biggest thing for me is a discipline in the craft, for skill is what makes the ideas in your head come to life. So practice like it is an obsession.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The first stop would be to go get pho at Don’s Cafe. It tastes so DAMN GOOD. You cant leave Houston without going to NASA.
The orange show has all the weird wacky art you can find.
5301.18a Art & Culture Lab – is owned by a personal friend of mine. This center is home to many events and a artist hub for creativity and exploring the old with the new.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My biggest thanks goes out to my Grandmother in Singapore. She founded the Goy Hwah Sewing school in Singapore and taught women how to sew and get a trade in tailoring. My grandmother was the prime minister of the late Lee Kwan Yew’s personal tailor. She raised 3 kids on her own being a single mother living through the Japanese War and escaping to Singapore during the Communist War. She is the definition of strength, love and dedication that all things are possible. She leads with so much grace and I admire the influence my grandma has in Singapore history.

Website: azychyr.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azy.chyr/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AZYCHYR

Image Credits
Caleb Bedford