Born on an aeroplane, Karen Heshi has challenged geopolitical boundaries from the very beginning. Now 25, she moved from China to Vancouver in Canada at the age of 8 where she would spend the rest of her childhood. The early move meant she had to learn English when she still wasn’t very fluent in Chinese. Struggling to make friends in Vancouver because of the language barrier, she started illustrating her vocabulary words to help learn English more quickly. Sketching definitions morphed into sketching clothes, precipitating her interest in fashion. She started remaking her clothes for fun. “I would cut into them, manipulate them, play with them,” she says.