REJINA PYO . . LUCA, CLERKENWELL
The fact that Rejina Pyo’s nearly-two-year-old son Luka shares his name with her place of inspiration – Italian restaurant Luca in Clerkenwell, east London – is simply a happy coincidence, she laughs.
Food is so important to the Korean-born designer, who moved to London ten years ago to study fashion at Central Saint Martins, that she and her husband, chef Jordan Bourke, released a cookbook titled Our Korean Kitchen in 2O15, a year after she launched her eponymous label.
But it’s not just the Parmesan fries or the freshly caught seafood that bring her back to Luca. Aesthetically, the space – pared back, yet ornate and tactile, with dusky desert red and cool teal furniture – chimes with Pyo’s tonally rich, sculptural readyto-wear collections, which are stocked at Selfridges, Liberty and Net-A-Porter (incidentally, these seemingly contrasting shades also cropped up in her SS19 collection). ‘I’m fascinated by how every colour has a different energy,’ she says, palming the cool surface of Luca’s white marble tables. ‘When you put them next to each other, it’s almost like they’re having conversations.’
Neither is it difficult to see how the environment fuels her creativity. Like these surroundings, her designs offer up quietly eclectic combinations that strike an intuitive balance – strong and pragmatic, but satisfyingly sensual at the same time, such as statement silhouettes like the balloon shoulders on her sell-out Greta dress, alongside ties and trims that feel functional, not fussy. As she puts it: ‘I always think that clothes shouldn’t swallow the woman – they should enhance her.’
Ultimately, for Pyo, Luca offers both creative fuel and comfort: ‘It has that sense of transporting you out of your everyday life.’