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Founder of the eponymous Londonbased brand that aims to enhance the beauty in everyday life.
Organic forms by artists such as Isamu Noguchi, plus a love of traditional Korean dress, help inform the work of British designer Rejina Pyo.
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; she’d 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 didn’t want me to pursue fashion, so she would hide the book. [Laughs] I was also inspired by television shows with traditional Korean clothing called ‘hanbok’; it’s very colourful and has lots of layers—it’s very interesting. Any time something like a period drama came on, nobody could change the channel because I was guarding the TV.”
DID YOU MISS DOING FASHION WEEK LAST YEAR?
“I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I would. It was nice to spend time with our team and talk about different ideas. You can’t really do that when you’re in the cycle of fashion week. A lot of things are last minute during that time, and you’re bound to be working until 1 or 2 a.m. That gives you excitement and hype, but now there’s a different approach. Since COVID, there’s been a conversation in the industry about how we can make things better—especially for the environment. That’s fresh and welcoming for me.”
WHICH ARTISTS HAVE BEEN THE MOST INFLUENTIAL TO YOU IN TERMS OF YOUR DESIGNS?
“I love fine art, and I often joke that when I retire at 65, I’ll be painting and making sculptures. I generally like very organic, abstract work from artists like Isamu Noguchi and Constantin Brancusi. But I’ve also discovered a lot of female artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and Angela de la Cruz. Angela explores the boundary between 2-D and 3-D and makes sculptural pieces out of canvas. They’re so beautiful. She had a stroke years ago, so she’s not able to do them herself now, but it’s so inspiring to see her working with her team to articulate her ideas. And Helen Frankenthaler’s colours are so beautiful…. It’s an endless list.” n