OUR STORY
Playful in spirit, shaped by technology, and crafted with obsessive care.
Hi, I’m Zheqiang — but you can call me Jacques. When I’m not building Pseudonym, I’m usually moving: on a long run, rolling on the mats, tracing a boulder route I still can’t quite solve. It’s where I do my best untangling.
After graduating from Parsons in New York, I booked a one-way ticket to Paris. I thought I’d find my way into a French fashion house. I didn’t. Instead, I spent my days learning French, sketching in cafés, wandering museums, and trying to understand what kind of designer I wanted to become. Not every chapter needs direction; some exist less for progress than for perspective.
When my visa ran out, I headed for the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen. There was no grand plan, just an instinct. I didn’t know it then, but that move brought a kind of clarity I couldn’t have found by staying the course.
This is the last thing I read before taking off to Copenhagen.
Shortly after graduation, I started Pseudonym. No factories, no suppliers, no experience, no money — just me, Kathi, and a deadline that felt impossible. Small meant decisions in hours, not quarters. In less than four months we built a full collection and opened Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Creating daily is hard. D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Sade, Guru, and Chopin helped keep rhythm.
Since we couldn’t outspend the big houses, resourcefulness became our currency. In a borrowed garage we staged thousands of flowers, each tagged Pseudonym. After the show, guests were invited to build their own bouquets, carrying them through the streets and into their homes. For one day, Copenhagen held our story in its hands—a quiet act of guerrilla poetry that traveled farther than any campaign.
Then the world shut down. No cashflow, no team, no runway. A short visit home became nine months of lockdown. Alone, I taught myself 3D modeling and animation. Limitations became invitations to reimagine, reframe, rebuild. The livestreamed digital show that followed won Best Experimental Film at Milan Fashion Film Festival.
How I felt some days. Designing means being misunderstood — learning when to refine instead of defend.
Back in Copenhagen, I began developing an AI-assisted, 3D-driven workflow for fashion. We weren’t chasing disruption; we were trying to survive. Working with less taught us to think differently — leaner, faster, sharper became its own craft.
A few years later, Bjarke Ingels Group brought me in as their XR Specialist to build interactive web-based architecture experiences and train architects in 3D workflows. Crossing disciplines proved that curiosity travels — and sometimes that’s enough to turn a door into an invitation.
Now I’m back in Paris, building Pseudonym’s next chapter. It feels full circle, but different — steadier, more deliberate. Every project is a question, a story, an excuse to play and stay curious. When I’m in that flow, I [[strike]]feel like I[[/strike]] am a kid again.
We make clothes, films, and objects. We design spaces you can enter and ideas you can hold. We share music in our Listening Room, explore ideas in the Playlab, and build with the belief that creativity is a communal act — something to pass forward, not keep hidden.
Pseudonym isn’t a big team. Not yet. But every step has been shaped by collaborators, friends, and family who believed before they had a reason to. Thank you Rasa, Kathi, Longfei, Matt, Prainn, and Quentin — and everyone who lent time, space, and trust.
