Ciai Studio

Founded by Kristen Chen as a passion project, Ciai Studio. Ci ai, or 慈爱 in

Mandarin, was her grandmother's namesake, for whom this project is dedicated to. It translates to something like "love and devotion" in English; two components Kristen strive to instill in each handmade piece, and two words that encompassed her grandmother perfectly. Her grandmother taught me to hold sustainability as a core tenet throughout life, which is reflected in her knitwear, lifestyle, and career trajectory in the corporate sustainability field.

As an immigrant from China to New York in the 1980s, her grandmother traded her expertise as a physics researcher for manual labor as a seamstress to support her two children; not speaking a lick of English, making a mere 10 cents per garment.

Finding her passion of handcrafting clothes in support of ethical, sustainable fashion and donating a portion back to the elderly Asian community in New York is one way of honoring her sacrifice. 20% of all sale proceeds are donated to Heart of Dinner, a New York-based volunteer-run nonprofit that delivers culturally appropriate meals to Asian elderly in order to combat isolation and food insecurity.