Jenny Fax: Analog Dreams for a Digital Tomorrow
Taipei-born designer Jen-Fang Shueh, based in Tokyo since launching her brand Jenny Fax in 2011, has built a world where nostalgia and modernity collide. Educated in Taiwan, Paris, and Belgium, Shueh blends emotional storytelling with precise craftsmanship, creating collections that feel like fragments of memory stitched into fashion.ZOOT contributing photographer Lauren Cremer had the chance to photograph her SS26 presententation in Paris this Autumn.
Photos Lauren Cremer
Words Maria Ribeiro
Fax’s universe is divinely dark yet undeniably feminine. Her aesthetic is built on contradiction. It’s fashion that speaks from a woman’s point of view, reclaiming the “kawaii” aesthetic (a Japanese cultural style that celebrates “cuteness” through a focus on innocence, playfulness, and vulnerability, evoking childlike or fragile feelings) and twisting it into something deeper, moodier, and more real. Her casting often includes women of all shapes and sizes, each embodying her belief that “everyday women” are the true protagonists of modern fashion.
For the designer, inspiration begins with memory. She often draws from the melancholic yet vibrant tones of old Taiwanese films, a mood that resonates with her upbringing. American pop culture — particularly the striking visuals of 80s cartoons and the drama of vintage soap operas — also plays a significant role in her creative identity. However, the emotional influence of her family remains the strongest.
Jenny Fax acknowledges that her work tends to gravitate toward cuteness, a sweetness she intentionally disrupts. Something “destroyable,” as she describes it, needs to emerge to capture the complex, moody textures of her past. This balance reflects the tension between innocence and unease that shaped her early years.
Her sources of inspiration range from archival films and TV dramas to documentaries and reality shows. Yet the most lasting influences are deeply personal: Japanese manga, school uniforms, and the dreamy prom dresses depicted in teen movies like Never Been Kissed. Her childhood wardrobe often serves as the foundation for her collections. Even a vintage Laura Ashley dress that belonged to her mother has become a significant artifact in her creative journey.
Her SS26 collection, “Everyday”, unveiled during PFW, transforms the mundane into the surreal. Set in a plain office space, ten models sit at their desks — typing, pausing, drifting into thought. In these ordinary gestures, Shueh reveals a quiet rebellion: the tiny acts of mental escape we find in routine. “In everyday routines, like going to the bathroom, I sometimes feel like I disappear from the boring environment and get a small sense of freedom.”
When I was making the collection, it always became too cute…I needed to balance it with something destroyable. Because this twisty moody feeling is more like my memories. – Jenny Fax explains in an interview for Coeval magazine .
It’s this duality that defines Jenny Fax’s analog-futurist sensibility. Stylist Lotta Volkova sharpens this narrative with her signature edge for SS26, merging Fax’s tender nostalgia with an unsettling corporate surrealism. The result is a collection that feels both analog and futuristic — like an old VHS tape replaying a dream of the future.
Through Everyday, Shueh once again proves her talent for transforming the small, the sentimental, and the feminine into something profound. In the Jenny Fax world, even the quietest moments — zoning out at your desk, daydreaming in the bathroom — become portals to freedom.
After all, as Shueh reminds us: “It’s okay to not be okay.”
To boot…
Jenny Fax
@jennyfax.official I www.mikiosakabejennyfax.store
Show credits
Creative direction @partel.oliva
Produced by @division.global
DOP @zoeque__dp
Light @clemence_warnier
Set Design @havaneduteil
DIT @przespolewsk.a.rchive
Casting Director @chouaibarif_
Hair @hsaiga
Make up @ai_n_____
Nail @nailsbymei
VP – Fashion & Luxury @gwendoline.victoria
Producer @morgannesque
