LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- As 2024 comes to a close, we're shining a light on a moment in history 100 years ago that's largely been forgotten. A young Los Angeles fashion designer has taken it upon herself to remind the world of the importance of this event. She's also showing us how knowledge makes us stronger.
The world of fashion is designed for change. With each season, there are new fits, colors and looks. There's always a new hot and a new not .
However, Michelle Hanabusa's fashion has an extra layer. "I've never been good with words, and so I think fashion, in a way, has been a vehicle for me to express my emotions and thoughts," she said. "I just told myself that if I was going to do something on my own, it was going to have a purpose.
" Much like her latest creation titled "1924," but before that, there was "American Made." "'American Made' started because I wanted to celebrate how diverse the U.S.
is made of, and it was very grassroots at that time," she recalled. "We ended up photographing 500 folks just organically, all throughout the United States. We just wanted to tell how diverse and interesting our community's stories were.
" Diversity is America's superpower. People whose DNA comes from all over the world, but together are "American made." Hanabusa's next brainstorm came as a rash of hate crimes toward Asian Americans swept the country.
She felt she had to do something. "One of my team members at that time, she says, 'The way you're kind of describing it feels like.