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New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

Olivia Liu

Olivia Liu, Abroad Editor

All content by Olivia Liu
Baker Sakura Smith holds two bagels with her right hand while holding her head with her left hand. She is wearing a green shirt and looking into the camera.

Sakura Smith is reinventing the New York City bagel

Fermented yeast from the mountains of Japan finds its way to Brooklyn through Bagel Bunny.
Olivia Liu, Beauty & Style Editor April 19, 2023

Malibu-raised baker Sakura Smith woke up at 4 a.m. today to feed her bunny. But Smith’s “bunny” is actually a bagel, and was born out of fermented vegetable yeast from a...

Samantha Harper, founder of Harper Collective, sits in her East Village apartment. She is wearing the superbloom dress in noir.

Q&A: Samantha Harper on breaking into the fashion industry

WSN spoke to designer Samantha Harper about her celebrity-loved brand Harper Collective and the challenges of running a business in a changing digital landscape.
Olivia Liu, Beauty & Style Editor April 14, 2023

Harper Collective, designer Samantha Harper’s latest venture into made-to-order garments, has made a name for itself as an “it girl” brand. Harper’s designs are lush, sexy...

Andrew Kwon poses next to a mannequin in a black dress.

Q&A: Designer Andrew Kwon on fashion and the internet

Evening and bridal wear designer Andrew Kwon spoke to WSN about his design process, his time at the Parsons School of Design and the influx of influencers in fashion.
Olivia Liu, Beauty & Style Editor November 18, 2022

Andrew Kwon oozes intimacy. The Korean American designer recently launched his newest bridal collection, Rarefied, which was held in a private suite in the Peninsula Hotel on Fifth...

Maria Sharapova and Laura Brown sit under a parasol on a tennis court on a rooftop with a large audience in front of them. The downtown Manhattan skyline is behind them.

Glam Slam serves style at New York Fashion Week

With Glam Slam, performance wear doesn’t have to be conformance wear.
Olivia Liu, Beauty & Style Editor September 28, 2022

The intersection between fashion and tennis came to a crescendo at Glam Slam, the first joint endeavor of powerhouse agencies IMG Fashion, and Spring Studios.  IMG transformed...

Two people stand in a tunnel with walls lined with graffiti. The one on the left is wearing a hoodie with green splotches on it, and is holding the handlebars of a bicycle. The one on the right is wearing blue jeans and a similarly colored splotch hoodie. People can be seen walking through the tunnel in the background.

How a Tisch first-year landed an internship working with Cardi B and Offset

A chance encounter outside Ramen Takumi led to Tisch first-year Yvonne Song’s internship as a photographer’s assistant.
Olivia Liu, Contributing Writer April 11, 2022

When I first met Yvonne Song before our big plate of Olio e Più’s spaghetti carbonara, she apologized frantically for looking horrible and having no makeup on — she was wearing...

The bubblegum pink storefront of Kinky’s Dessert Bar. On either side of the door, hearts are printed on the windows in a range of pink tones. Above the door is the word “Kinky’s” in yellow letters.

Kinky’s Dessert Bar sells the dirtiest desserts in the Lower East Side

Genitalia-shaped waffles have brought fame to the bakery that opened this past Valentine’s Day. August and John DeWindt, owners of Kinky’s Dessert Bar, explain exactly why the sexual sweets sell.
Olivia Liu, Contributing Writer April 4, 2022

“I want a nipple-pierced cupcake!” my roommate and first-year Liberal Studies student, Mia Hejlsberg, said to me as she started getting ready for the day. In any other context,...

(Staff Photo by Manasa Gudavalli)

Party or fashion show? Christian Juul Nielsen debuts at NYFW

Designer Christian Juul Nielsen makes his New York Fashion Week debut with Danish brand Aknvas in a beautiful flurry of bunny heads, models and disco music.
Olivia Liu, Contributing Writer February 15, 2022

A quick glance into the sunken living room at Spring Studios might have one questioning whether or not they had fallen into a 1970s conversation pit. Christian Juul Nielsen,...