March 25, 2021 at 04:26PM
Since launching her line in 2014, London-based designer Rejina Pyo has become a favourite on the city’s fashion week calendar and a beloved presence in the wardrobes of the world’s savviest style mavens. We caught up with her for FASHION’s April issue to talk about how she became interested in design, her brand’s approach to sustainability, and the creatives who inspire her artful pieces.
What was your relationship with style growing up?
My mom was a fashion designer when she was in her 20s. She has a wonderful sense of style, and she took great joy in dressing me. We always had fabrics lying around the house; sheād make everything from curtains to my clothes, so the concept of making things was always around me. I asked her to teach me how to sew, and I made my first dress when I was 12. She had an old school sketchbook with drawings of Peter Pan collars and bell sleeves. I thought it was the most beautiful thing, and I would try to draw the same way she did. But she didnāt want me to pursue fashion, so she would hide the book. [Laughs] I was also inspired by television shows with traditional Korean clothing called āhanbokā; itās very colourful and has lots of layers ā itās very interesting. Any time something like a period drama came on, nobody could change the channel because I was guarding the TV.
Tell us about the brandās philosophy and its sustainability journey.
Iāve always felt bad about fashion being one of the most polluting industries, and that people donāt care about how a piece of clothing can be so cheap. It really bothers me. And thereās also been a trend of people buying things that they donāt actually wear many times, like buying things just to wear to go out at night. I felt like women didnāt have a lot of choice in terms of having nice clothes to wear to work ā pieces that arenāt one-off, showy fashion, but that give the wearer a sense of enjoyment and comfort as they go about their daily routine. Expressing yourself is good, but if people have to suffer wearing it…I donāt think thatās right. And women have been objectified throughout history, so itās the right time for us to now dress for ourselves and not for other people.
Whenever Iād start to feel very bad about all these things, Iād have conversations with my good friend, whoās now the brandās managing director; sheās an expert in fashion sustainability. Sheād say that I shouldnāt walk away, but be in this [industry] to make valuable changes.
You canāt do things overnight ā it takes so long to research certifications for biodegradability, for example, or what a recycled fabric is actually made of. Now that sustainability is such a trend, some people will try to scam you. We have a pyramid metric for materials that we use, and each season we monitor the sustainability rating of fabrics so we have a practical goal instead of just saying, oh, letās be sustainable.
We’ve also opted out of making huge sets for our fashion shows because we know those are thrown away straight after, and have rethought how we made invitations for [fashion week]. For Spring 2020, we used old library cards and had the show in a library to show off its beautiful architecture. And for our most recent show we opted out of sending physical invites and instead sent an e-vite.
Did you miss doing fashion week last year?
I didnāt miss it as much as I thought I would. It was nice to spend time with our team and talk about different ideas. You canāt really do that when youāre in the cycle of fashion week. A lot of things are last minute during that time, and youāre bound to be working until 1 or 2 a.m. That gives you excitement and hype, but now thereās a different approach. Since COVID, thereās been a conversation in the industry about how we can make things better ā especially for the environment. Thatās fresh and welcoming for me.
Why did you decide to create unisex garments?
Iāve always been interested in the life aspect of fashion. I was seeing people, including myself and the girls in my office, wearing menās clothing, and it gave me an idea ā why donāt we just share clothes? Retail buyers were confused about where to put these pieces in their stores because genders are separated, but I think weāll get there in the end and I believe in the idea. Itās nice to have one piece of clothing that one day you can wear and the next day, your partner could wear it ā you get more use out of it.
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Which artists have been most influential to you in terms of your designs?
I love fine art, and I often joke that when I retire at 65, Iāll be painting and making sculptures. I generally like very organic, abstract work from artists like Isamu Noguchi and Constantin Brancusi. But Iāve also discovered a lot of female artists like Georgia OāKeeffe and Angela de la Cruz. Angela explores the boundary between 2-D and 3-D and makes sculptural pieces out of canvas. Theyāre so beautiful. She had a stroke years ago, so sheās not able to do them herself now, but itās so inspiring to see her working with her team to articulate her ideas. And Helen Frankenthalerās colours are so beautiful…. Itās an endless list.
The post London-based Designer Rejina Pyo on Sustainability and Unisex Style appeared first on FASHION Magazine.
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Author Odessa Paloma Parker | Fashion Magazine
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