Wyatt Nguyen — BFA Fashion Design 2025

Fashion Product

Out of the Toybox

My thesis explores how the gender typing of toys influences the development of one’s gender identity and sexual orientation. Many transgender and other LGBTQIA+ people feel as if they weren’t able to express themselves and their gender identity to the fullest extent in their childhood. Toys are one of the first things we are given to see and understand the world and the vast majority of toys children play with are heavily influenced by strict gender roles and stereotypes. Every child in our society is socialized in a cisgender-heteronormative environment and the toys they play with generally reinforce misinformed gender and sexuality messages at an early age.

In this product collection, I used felted wool, foam, and laser-cut acrylic. The felt-covered foam evokes the softness and comfort of stuffed animals, symbols of childhood security and emotional connection. In contrast, the laser-cut acrylic elements were designed to resemble plastic LEGO bricks and introduce a harder, more structured texture. By combining these materials, I aimed to express the duality between vulnerability and strength, softness and solidity, and reflecting the tension and harmony present in LGBTQIA+ identity formation.

Image: I decided to incorporate various historical queer references, most notably the bricks thrown during the Stonewall Riots, an iconic moment that ignited a new chapter in the LGBTQIA+ rights movement. I have reimagined these bricks through the lens of building blocks and LEGOs, a toy originally marketed to boys. Over time, LEGO has diversified its product lines to include gender-neutral and “girly” sets to appeal to a broader audience.

Image: *Featured: Concept & Resesarch Development.*
Aesthetically, I’ve drawn heavily from Japanese Harajuku subculture, particularly the “Decora Kei” style. Known for its bright colors and childlike energy, Decora emerged in the 1990s and was inspired by '80s cartoons like *Strawberry Shortcake*, *My Little Pony*, *Hello Kitty*, and *Care Bears*. This fashion style is very much about embracing your inner child and bringing those feelings into young adulthood into a culture where the fashion norms are monotonous and minimalistic. It is all about having fun and not caring about what other people think whether it’s “weird” or “odd”. Decora embraces maximalism, individuality, and fun—without caring about what others think. That mindset is central to my collection.

Image: *Featured: Toybox bag, Bricklinker wallet chain & wallet*

Image: *Featured: Laser-cut acrylic links.*

Image: *Featured: Laser cutting development/ process.*

Image: *Featured: Bricklinker Earring Chain & Toybox Bag.* In today’s climate, it is more important than ever to uplift transgender voices and share our stories. This collection is not only personal; it is political. It connects queer subculture with transitional experiences and current threats to our rights. My goal was to create space for LGBTQIA+ people to feel comfortable embracing their inner child and bringing those feelings into adulthood. This collection is about reclaiming joy, celebrating identity, and healing through play. To be and unapologetically identify with what YOU want, and to be confident in and out of yourself.

Image: *Featured: Bricklinker Earring Chain, Bricklinker Carabiner & Wallet Chain.*

Image: *Featured: Bricklinker Carabiner & Wallet Chain.*

Image: *Featured: Bricklinker Carabiner & Wallet Chain, Toybox Bag, Bricklinker Earring Chain.*

Image: *Featured: Bricklinker Carabiner, Wallet Chain, Wallet Set.*
**Credits:**
Designer: Wyatt Nguyen
Director: Wyatt Nguyen
Photographer: Lily Sisson
Editor: Wyatt Nguyen
Stylist: Wyatt Nguyen
Makeup: Thursdae Sierocki
Hair: Wyatt Nguyen
Lily Sisson
Models: Justicia Wilson
Maggie Wang
Thursdae Sierocki

Bio

Wyatt’s practice explores the intersection of LGBTQIA+ identities and childhood memories. He works with felted wool, fibers, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, and laser-cutting, connecting traditional craft with contemporary processes to create tactile products that speak to transformation, personal, and collective.

He, as a transgender designer, draws inspiration from LGBTQIA+ history and how it echoes through current events by using vibrant colors and soft textures to reimagine narratives often marked by resilience, invisibility, and joy. His work is deeply rooted in the emotional landscape of growing up transgender where childhood memories that were once fragmented or obscured are reclaimed and reshaped into playful and expressive forms.

Through these products, he strives to create space for both tenderness and confrontation, inviting viewers to reflect on the ways identity is constructed, remembered, and celebrated. Bright, bold, and unapologetically joyful, his designs serve as small monuments to LGBTQIA+ futures, ones that honor where we’ve been and where we’re going.

E-mail Instagram: @wyy.artt