The workwear collection is now available for preorder, shipping late March. Preorder items cannot be purchased with other products—they must be in a separate cart.

This QQ Zodiac hat is a five panel baseball cap with an adjustable slider. It's adorned with a zodiac animal on the front and a Yun Hai logo on the back.

From Lisa:

Every year we draw a new mascot for Yun Hai based on the Chinese zodiac. We use the letter Q for the creature’s eyes, referencing the Taiwanese word for a bouncy, chewy texture: “Q.”

This year’s horse is an invitation to run, bespectacled with clarity, into the future.

When I was in Kindergarten, I was given the assignment of coloring in a horse. I gave mine a brown coat and a black mane, carefully rendered. Satisfied, I looked over at my neighbor, who had dressed hers in multicolor, a shiny princess. I ripped mine up and made a copy of hers, and never forgot the sense of regret I felt afterwards.

QQ Horse is Kindergarten Horse risen again, shining in postponed glory, adorned only by a pair of glittering, golden glasses. (I also happen to be severely myopic and this is also an homage to that whole experience.) She’s embroidered onto a denim shirt, symmetrically mirrored across the button line, inspired by Western Wear and my deep Texan-Taiwanese roots.

I struggled to draw QQ horse this year (I struggle every year), and tried to avoid the barbie horse tropes or big hair and plastic-like body. As I worked, I thought of Eadweard Muybridge, who birthed a form of early cinema when trying to understand the mechanics of the horse’s movement. He set up 12 cameras with tripwire shutters and captured a horse at a gallop.

The work, or series of works, is titled The Horse in Motion. People used to believe that the horse flew over the land with legs splayed in front and behind them (aka the flying gallop), Muybridge showed that yes, the horse does separate completely from the ground, but only with legs tucked awkwardly and expertly beneath. I tried to capture this moment of suspension, a moment of forward motion divorced from earthly matters.

We put QQ Horse and QQ Snake on a new series, internally dubbed Zodiac Workwear, that more than hints at my Texas roots (I’m a kikker at heart), but also doubles as Practical Wear for Every Situation.™ The horse, fittingly, is emblazoned onto denim, and the snake onto khaki.

Also available on work shirts and kids' safari hats.

• Illustration and design by Lisa Cheng Smith.
• Embroidered in NYC by General Wear on a Newhattan denim baseball cap.

Specifications

1155 Light Blue Denim Baseball Cap by Newhattan.
One size.
Embroidered by General Wear.

100% cotton

Features:

• 3” wide QQ Horse embroidery on front
• 1.75” wide Yun Hai logo embroidery on back
• Sliding buckle

About Yun Hai Selection

Yun Hai Selection is the house brand of Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry.