Stephanie Hsu Is in Full Bloom at NYFW

Stephanie Hsu has a wicked sense of humor. In ways large and small, it shines through everything the actress takes on, from her Oscar-nominated role in Everything Everywhere All At Once to her latest venture as the face of Kate Spade's Spring campaign and even her own sense of style. According to Hsu, the latter are a match made in fashion heaven. "Fashion should bring you joy," she tells InStyle. "You should get to bloom however you want, so I feel like the Time to Spring campaign is both literally and metaphorically the choo-choo train that I am on."

Hsu's ridden the Time to Spring Kate Spade express train straight from the campaign's set to New York Fashion Week, where the brand debuted its new collection at Nylon Nights, a very New York celebration held on Thursday, February 8th, ahead of a week of runway shows and high fashion. For the event, Hsu stepped out in a head-to-toe Kate Spade look that aligned closely with her favorite trends of the moment.

"I have always been obsessed with flowers, extremely large avant-garde flowers," Hsu tells InStyle. "I love couture flowers, and they're having a huge resurgence right now." While Hsu wore a chartreuse rosette choker necklace to the Kate Spade NYFW event, the actor can't wait for the trend to go even bigger and bolder. "For the last five years, I've been trying to convince people to make me a whole headpiece of flowers," she shares. "Now everyone is doing these neck flowers and I'm like, 'okay. Well, that's awesome. I'm glad we all agree that this is actually quite chic.'"

Hsu's love of lively florals extends beyond neck-up accessorizing and into the "funky" bags and purses in the Kate Spade Time to Spring collection, some of which were on display at Nylon Nights. "There's these flora patent leather handbags that I really love," Hsu shared when asked what Kate Spade newness sparks the most joy for her. "They're so beautiful and really chic but kind of funky. They have the essence of a flower, but are totally wearable. They spark so much joy."

Other elements of fashion Hsu delights in include fashion secrets of the non-girl boss gate-keeping variety. "I always like to do a little secret," she shares and adds, "I love asymmetry. I have two piercings on my right ear, but only one piercing on my left ear, so sometimes even if everybody's like, 'you don't need to add a little stud there,' I'm like, 'but then it's just a little off balance, and that's how I like it.'"

Having grown up digging through Salvation Army bins for buried fashion treasure, Hsu also values little bits of uniqueness. "It was so awesome," she says of her youthful thrifting adventures, "to find those pieces that were special or just a little bit different. Even if it's just the collar that's a little bit different to me, that's really exciting." A little different is fun, but a lot different — well, that's even better. At least for Hsu who values where elevated style and a funky sense of silliness come together. "I recently got one of those hair claws that's a corn on the cob," she says of her search for all things delightfully strange and chic.

There's plenty of that particular vibe to be found in the Kate Spade Time to Bloom collection as well among them, frog-shaped bags, playfully puffy textures, and a particularly spicy scarf that, while not yet available for purchase, has already caught Hsu's eye. "There's a silk scarf that's coming out that has just a bunch of hot sauces on it," she reveals. "It's just so silly. Why would you put hot sauce on a silk scarf? However, it's quite beautiful and chic and funky too."

At the intersection of funky and chic, Hsu remains ahead of the fashion trend cycle. "I have been eclectic grandpa since before it was even a thing, okay? I can't even believe that's now a fad, and I'm grateful that there's a name for whatever I embody, which is that."