About

Based in New York City, NOT is an independent fashion brand for the actively curious. We aim to make dressing a surprising, playful, and transformative experience within itself. Our interdisciplinary approach as a fashion studio has also led us to create a mobile app, printed zines, a fashion coloring book, animated films, and exhibitions.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Designer Jenny Lai grew up playing viola and piano, dancing, and acting. When she fell in love with clothing, she saw that dressing was another kind of performance- silent, intuitive, and one we acted out everyday. Like performing on stage, there was the adrenaline, the need to respond and adapt instantaneously, and an infinite possibility of change each time around. Lai's interdisciplinary approach to fashion reveal an instinct for the expansive possibilities of movement and interaction. 

Jenny Lai is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and has worked around the world from Amsterdam to Mexico City to South Africa with internationally renowned fashion brands such as Viktor & Rolf, Boudicca, Bibhu Mohapatra, and Carla Fernandez. She founded NOT in 2011.

 

Designer Jenny Lai drapes with fabric on a dressform.

 

SMALL QUANTITY PRODUCTION

All collections are designed at our Upper West Side studio in New York City. Our womenswear collection is produced by seamstresses, tailors, and manufacturers in New York's Garment District with special care and attention. Our menswear styles are produced between New York City and Taiwan.

  

PERFORMANCE-WEAR

In addition to ready-to-wear collections, the brand creates custom performance-wear for musicians and dancers pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary performance.  

Claire Chase and Esperanza Spalding perform on stage, photo by Chris Lee

 

Go to Performance-Wear

MOBILE PROJECTS

NOT produces collaborative, interdisciplinary work as a mobile studio around the world, involving film, animation, dance, and visual arts. 

Still from 3d animated fashion film VIV by Jenny Lai  

Go to Mobile Projects

VISIT OUR MANHATTAN SHOP-IN-STUDIO

Visit our Manhattan shop-in-studio to try on styles and enjoy a personal, informal meet & greet with the designer. Book your visit here. We are located next to Lincoln Center, the performing arts center of New York.

two racks of hanging clothing in NOT Studio
Sign up on our mailing list for the next Open Studio dates. A peephole into NOT's world of imagination by filmmaker Redha Medjellekh: