Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with our newest merchandise collection

May marks the start of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, a time for us to recognize the impact and influence of the AAPI community in the United States. We celebrate the cultural trailblazers of the past, present, and future. As part of our APAHM celebrations, we’re excited to share our new Made in Chinatown Spring merchandise collection. This collection honors the vibrant identities of iconic Chinatown businesses and reminds us of their contributions to the AAPI community.

We’ve partnered with four quintessential Chinatown businesses to create a series of apparel, mugs, stickers, and totes that celebrate their colorful history and community impact. These businesses include Wo Hop, Wo Hop Next Door, Hop Lee, and Bangkok Center Grocery. We couldn’t resist creating a few original pieces for Welcome to Chinatown too.

Hear their stories:

Wo Hop & Wo Hop Next Door

Wo Hop has been serving the community as a late-night diner since 1938, making it the second oldest restaurant in NYC Chinatown. In 1976, they opened their second location, Wo Hop Next Door - both locations serving as integral parts of the Chinatown community. To celebrate their long history, our talented designer, Jasco Chan, designed the Wo Hop x Made in Chinatown Hoodie and Wo Hop x Made in Chinatown Mug. 

This preshrunk hoodie celebrates Wo Hop’s continued contribution to Chinatown’s legacy by harmonizing elements from both locations, with a balanced nod to Wo Hop’s past and present. The front of the hoodie is embroidered with the same design featured on the Wo Hop uniforms, a representation of 19th century Chinese calligraphy.

Anti-Chinese legislation prevented Chinese immigrants from pursuing other types of employment,  leading many to open restaurants. This type of font was an excellent business tactic to help Americans easily recognize and identify Chinese restaurants. The back of the hoodie is also screen printed with the iconic Wo Hop logo. 

Our Wo Hop x Made in Chinatown Mug celebrates the physical walls of Wo Hop’s downstairs location –plastered with cash signed by first-time visitors and late-night regulars alike. Wo Hop’s walls act as a living tribute to their community of patrons, which grows with those who continue to leave their mark, scribbled on the backs of dollar bills.

Profits go directly to Wo Hop 17 & Wo Hop Next Door.

Hop Lee

Hop Lee is home to authentic Cantonese food, reminiscent of Taishanese cuisine popularized in the 1970s and 1980s. Like many other Chinese restaurants experiencing the height of globalization and economic growth, they wanted to elevate their businesses without alienating their core customers. Hop Lee has the type of service and food that makes you feel like you’re at home. Our Head of Creative, Harry Trinh, found inspiration for our Hop Lee x Made in Chinatown Fortune Crewneck and Hop Lee x Made in Chinatown Mug through the restaurant’s decor. 

In the Asian community, we show love through food, which inspired the design of our Hop Lee x Made in Chinatown Fortune Crewneck. This oversized light pink sweater features a vintage pocket print Hop Lee receipt design with “love Chinatown” written in. The color choice reflects the soft pink accents in their restaurant, while the rose motif was pulled directly from their rose printed napkins. The right sleeve features a rose print with a fortune that reads: “A good way to keep healthy is to eat more Chinese food.” 

The Hop Lee x Made in Chinatown Mug features elements of Hop Lee’s exterior signage including elements of their neon sign, main signage, and street number.

Profits go directly to Hop Lee

Bangkok Grocery Center

Bangkok Center Grocery is a little slice of Thailand in the heart of Chinatown. Owned by Premjit (Nong) Marks, this small but mighty shop has been in business for decades. They serve as a one-stop-shop for a wide variety of Thai ingredients that are often difficult to find, such as the coveted Kaffir lime leaves – a crucial ingredient in Thai cooking. The shop is tiny but organized, with  Nong and her friendly staff making shopping for Thai ingredients a breeze. 

As a Thai-American, Kasey Coffey wanted to bring more awareness around Chinatown's diversity through her designs for the Bangkok Center Grocery x Made in Chinatown Long Sleeve and Bangkok Center Grocery x Made in Chinatown Tea Towel. She wanted to embody the lively illustrations and bright colors of Thai ingredients – especially fish sauce. Fish sauce is such a key ingredient in countless Thai dishes, so we knew we had to highlight it. The ultra cotton long sleeve t-shirt features an embroidered bottle of fish sauce in green thread on the front left chest, with the Thai and English business name running down the left sleeve.

Spice up your kitchen with our Bangkok Center Grocery x Made in Chinatown Tea Towel, a 100% cotton towel featuring a digital illustration of Thailand’s iconic Tom Yum Soup ingredients, all of which can be found at Bangkok Center Grocery. Kasey hopes these designs will encourage people to cook more Thai food (which is a lot simpler than people realize). Whether you’re in the mood for Thai food or just want to say hi, stop by Bangkok Center Grocery and tell Nong we sent you! 

Profits go directly to Bangkok Center Grocery.

Welcome to Chinatown

With the rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes, Emily B Yang thought: “In the future, [will] Asian American elders feel safe at work or at home, outside or inside, in groups or alone, literally wherever and whenever they want? How long until you see that this is our home too?” Despite the hardships, we hope these designs celebrate being Asian in America. 

Emily took inspiration from Columbus Park, a sacred intergenerational communal space for upholding old traditions in new places. Since opening in 1897, the park itself retains many of its original elements which continue to be repurposed by the Chinatown community.

For instance, the checkers tables are now used for games of Chinese chess and cards. The pavilion is a place for the elderly to rest and meet friends. In light of recent protests, Columbus Park also serves as a space for community organizing. With this inspiration in mind, Emily designed the Welcome to Chinatown "In the Future" Tee and Welcome to Chinatown "Meet Me in Columbus Park" Cooler as a nod to this iconic location.

The Welcome to Chinatown "In the Future" Tee is a light yellow t-shirt featuring screen-printed designs, including a comic imagining different Chinatown futures.The t-shirt is the perfect shade of yellow as we approach summer! The bright orange, recycled Welcome to Chinatown "Meet Me in Columbus Park" Cooler Bag keeps food cold and fresh.It features handmade block printed designs of Columbus Park, aluminum lining, and zips to close. It’s the perfect size for picnics in the park or your next grocery run. 

To have a piece of our whole collection, don’t forget to grab our Welcome to Chinatown Spring Collection Sticker Sheet. This 4x6 matte sticker sheet features designs from Wo Hop, Hop Lee, Bangkok Center Grocery, and Welcome to Chinatown. 

Profits go directly to Welcome to Chinatown and support small businesses.