I recognized Valerie Zhang, who has been a regular at fashion weeks in New York and Europe, outside the New York Public Library on a Friday in February. She has an excitable presence, and her big blue puffer coat embodied the type of eye-grabbing attire she is known to wear to the shows.

She had been working at the library in Midtown Manhattan, she said, and was on her way to meet her boyfriend for “a very cute dinner.” Ms. Zhang, 27, who grew up in China, told me her coat was from Chenpeng, a label whose founder is also Chinese. “Lots of people like it because it has little hearts on it,” she said.

While describing her style, Ms. Zhang, who owns a digital media agency, used the words bold, obvious and fun. “I feel like you need to find a way to let people see you from very far away,” she said. She took a beat and then continued, “Like how you found me!”