Glitching the Matrix: Yuchen Han’s Journey from Childhood Trauma to Global Runways
Editor: Leon Haasbroek
Dossier had the opportunity to sit down with New York-based designer and ALIENANT founder, Yuchen Han - a visionary creative whose journey threads through trauma, transformation, and transcendence, ultimately landing on the global stage through the medium of fashion.
Born in Xining, China, on the outskirts of the Tibetan Plateau, Yuchen’s early life was shaped by separation, instability, and a recurring dream: a lone ant dragging an enormous grain of rice through a boundless fog. Raised in Xi’an by an abusive father and estranged from his mother, Yuchen navigated childhood in silence - isolated, burdened, and unseen.
But everything shifted the day he discovered Lady Gaga. Her defiance, theatricality, and refusal to conform - it sparked something. For Yuchen, fashion became more than fabric. It became armour. A way to survive, and then, a way to lead.
Determined to pursue art despite limited access to resources in his province, Yuchen moved back to live with his mother and began training for China’s national art entrance exams. His relentless pursuit paid off: he became the only student from Qinghai Province to be accepted into the prestigious China Academy of Art. Based in Shanghai, the experience was transformational - not just academically, but spiritually. It was in that city, amidst fashion shows and independent creatives, that Yuchen started dreaming even bigger.
With “NEW YORK” taped to his dorm room window as a daily visual manifestation, Yuchen eventually made his way to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where he joined their inaugural MFA program in Fashion Design. It was the perfect convergence of industry relevance and conceptual depth - preparing him for the launch of his own brand: ALIENANT.
Founded in New York in 2019, ALIENANT is as much a spiritual philosophy as it is a fashion label. The name - fusing alien and ant - stems from the dream that haunted his youth. Initially, he believed the ant was a metaphor for himself. But a deep spiritual awakening in 2023 led to a different revelation: the ant represents all of us. And the "alien"? That came from a lifelong feeling of not belonging - first in his father’s house, then in society, and later as an immigrant in the U.S. The sense of waiting to be “taken home” eventually aligned with his deeper fascination with otherworldly realms, and the idea that he might, in fact, be a starseed. Whether interpreted spiritually or symbolically, the name ALIENANT captures a journey of both personal and collective awakening.
The brand has since evolved into what Yuchen calls a “Wearable Awakening System.” At its core is the “glitch” - a visual vocabulary of distortion, reconstruction, and resilience. Taoist minimalism collides with cosmic tailoring, street energy, and modular silhouettes. The result is fashion that feels sacred and subversive. Garments that ask questions. Pieces that provoke transformation. “Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?”
Yuchen’s work has not gone unnoticed. In 2022, he was awarded both the YU PRIZE (Rising Voices Award) and the YINGER PRIZE (Grand Award) - two of the most prestigious accolades for emerging designers in China. The prizes came with nearly half a million RMB in funding, high-profile collaborations with UGG and Li-Ning.
ALIENANT has since dressed artists like Coldplay, NLE Choppa, Steve Aoki, REMA and Jessie Murph - not through transactional partnerships, but through resonance. “When these artists wear ALIENANT,” Yuchen explains, “it’s not about hype. It’s about alignment. They become carriers of the message.”
As his next collection - A Glimpse of Spiritual Awakening - prepares to launch after nearly two years in development, Yuchen is also stepping into one of the most iconic fashion competitions in pop culture: Project Runway Season 21, launching globally on Disney+ and other platforms from 31 July 2025.
Having been approached by the show multiple times between 2019 and 2023, Yuchen finally said yes. “It was never about fame,” he tells us. “It was about honouring the dream. I grew up watching the show. To now stand on that stage - it feels like a full-circle moment.”
The preparation window was tight - just three weeks - but Yuchen approached it with clarity and joy. “Every piece I made carried energy,” he says. “This wasn’t just technical execution. It was soul.”
With Project Runway set to introduce Yuchen to an even broader audience, ALIENANT enters a new phase - one that balances artistic integrity with scalability, creative innovation with commercial momentum.
The future of fashion, according to Yuchen, is not trend-driven. It’s consciousness-driven. As he puts it: “The world doesn’t need more clothes. It needs more clarity.” And with that clarity, Yuchen Han isn’t just designing garments - he’s shaping a movement.
As Yuchen’s journey on Project Runway unfolds, Dossier has been afforded a rare and intimate opportunity: exclusive access to follow his experience from the inside. Over the coming weeks, Yuchen and his team will be sharing personal updates with us every two weeks - offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative challenges, emotional highs, and transformative moments that lie ahead. Through it all, we’ll be stepping into his world as he navigates the next chapter of his calling, one stitch, one story, one soul-led silhouette at a time.
