CAN FASHION BE ART? AN INTERVIEW WITH REJINA PYO

After graduating from MA Fashion in 2011, Korean-born designer Rejina Pyo has kept the momentum going ever since. She collaborated with the fashion-forward retail store Weekday (owned by the H&M Group), worked with Roksanda Ilincic, won the Han Nefkens Fashion award and started up her own eponymous label. So without a doubt, we have a lot of catching up to do with Rejina.

THE CSM EXPERIENCE

Before starting the MA course at CSM, Rejiina modeled for Mark Fast in Paris, where she got the chance to hang out with not only Mark Fast himself, but also Mary Katrantzou and Louise Gray, who all graduated from CSM. “They were saying how much they missed it and what an incredible time they had on the course,” Rejina recalled, “now I know what they mean. That’s not to say it was easy though, we all hated it when we were there!”

ON THE ALMIGHTY LOUISE WILSON

Rejina’s husband, who is a chef (check out his cookbook The Guilt-free Gourmet), had met with Louise Wilson several times. “He described Louise as the wench from hell, but the most inspiring and brilliant one you were ever likely to meet,” she said, “and he was absolutely right! She is incredibly tough and painfully honest, but she gets it right every time and she always told us what we needed to hear.”

ON WORKING WITH ROKSANDA ILINCIC

Right after graduation, Rejina got picked up by Roksanda Ilincic to work as her first assistant designer. “Having worked in a big corporation in Korea, working in a design studio is very different. I worked very closely with Roksanda. I was responsible for assisting all the key areas of designing. I also designed the Net-a-Porter exclusive collection and the Debenhams collaboration collection. The job was so broad that I got the opportunity to experience almost everything, which was amazing.”

Fashion as Art – Structural Mode

In her highly successful MA collection, we saw a beautiful blend of wooden sculptures with fluid fabrics. The collection showed her interest in exploring the boundary between art and fashion, which was then being featured in the ‘ARRRGH! Monsters in Fashion‘ exhibition at the Benaki Museum in Athens. Her newly commissioned collection for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen entitled Structural Mode seems to be a clear continuation of her exploration

“I think art and fashion share a lot of things. It’s something that you want to look at, there is often an element of surprise, it can be beautiful or ugly and ultimately, it is a matter of taste. The boundary between art and fashion is always somewhat blurred, so I wanted to experiment with a more direct approach. I did not want to create fashion garments that could be worn. Instead, I wanted to create sculptural artwork that is inspired by the forms of garments. So none of the pieces are wearable, although at first glance they look like dresses or garments. Then when you get up close, you can see that the pieces are actually made out of coloured aluminum plate, tinted acyclic, and horsehair bonded between silk and cotton.”

FASHION: ART VS. BUSINESS

After seeing Rejina’s MA collection and her commissioned collection, you might think that Rejina is a diehard supporter of fashion as art. However, after gaining more and more work experiences in the industry, she came to the conclusion: “What I learnt from the industry is that it’s all about business, it’s the same as any other industries, you have to make money. Being a student is such a privilege, you can do whatever you want without the pressure of having to sell the garment!”

“It’s totally different from being a student, you have to be creative but with your eye constantly on the market. I don’t think of it as pressure though, it’s another part of the joy of being a designer, to see people pay money for your products and wear your designs. You are still developing an idea and making something new and desirable, but it is essential that you know who your woman is, what she wants to wear, when and for what occasion, and the price point etc.”

This to me really echoes with what Imran Amed (founder of the blog The Business of Fashion and associate lecturer at CSM) said previously to 1 Granary: “It’s also never too early to start learning and thinking about how the business of fashion works – the truth is that fashion is not an art, it’s a business.”

The tricky part of being a successful fashion designer is to find the balance between art and business. Looking at Rejina Pyo’s ready-to-wear collections and her collaboration collection with Weekday, it seems that Rejina has definitely found her way to transform conceptual ideas into wearable products. “I was thrilled to be part of the Weekday project and it is also a great opportunity to communicate with a larger audience through my designs. I took the inspirations from my MA collection and developed it with a more wearable approach. The reversibility of the designs also allows the wearers to play around with the clothes.”

So after all, can Fashion be Art? This piece of advice Rejina gave to other fashion students and young designers might be the perfect answer to the question: “I believe that there is always a place for you if you do what you really want to do and do it well.”

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