Rejina Pyo (Q9005)
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Rejina Pyo is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Rejina Pyo |
Rejina Pyo is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Rejina Pyo’s intriguing fusion of offbeat hues and playful silhouettes has cultivated a dedicated following, spanning from creative eccentrics to high net-worth gallerinas (she’s even noted that an increasing number of men are now part of her customer base). This has afforded her the liberty to present her collections on her own terms, whenever and however she sees fit—an enviable position amidst the rigid constraints of the contemporary fashion calendar. This time around, she’s chosen to present her pre-fall and fall collections simultaneously, despite their distinct aesthetic identities.Reflecting her unique perspective on femininity, Pyo’s pre-fall collection captures the complexities of a woman’s life experience—nuanced, intricate, and ever-evolving. Drawing inspiration from her nostalgic memories of growing up in South Korea with her mother, she crafted garments with a sense of lightness. Airy three-piece wool suits adorned with the brand’s recognizable mismatched buttons mingle with flowing chiffon dresses and blouses. Split-skirts, accented with playful tassels, share space with cargo-inspired pants cut from organic denim. And knitwear comes in the form of snug cardigans adorned with delicate frills in soft lilac and yellow hues, crafted from responsibly sourced alpaca.In contrast, the fall collection has a refined, English countryside twist. “I aimed for everything to have a sense of being cherished hand-me-downs from a beloved family member,” she said at a preview in her East London studio. Sharp tailoring in mannish houndstooth patterns, feature blazers spiced up with cinched waists, maxi skirts, and straight-leg pants. Elsewhere, voluminous dresses and skirts create the illusion of technical fabric but are, in fact, made of high-shine viscose. A playful zebra print wool is transformed into coats, midi skirts, and blouses, adding further dimension to the lineup.
30 April 2024
Rejina Pyo’s intriguing fusion of offbeat hues and playful silhouettes has cultivated a dedicated following, spanning from creative eccentrics to high net-worth gallerinas (she’s even noted that an increasing number of men are now part of her customer base). This has afforded her the liberty to present her collections on her own terms, whenever and however she sees fit—an enviable position amidst the rigid constraints of the contemporary fashion calendar. This time around, she’s chosen to present her pre-fall and fall collections simultaneously, despite their distinct aesthetic identities.Reflecting her unique perspective on femininity, Pyo’s pre-fall collection captures the complexities of a woman’s life experience—nuanced, intricate, and ever-evolving. Drawing inspiration from her nostalgic memories of growing up in South Korea with her mother, she crafted garments with a sense of lightness. Airy three-piece wool suits adorned with the brand’s recognizable mismatched buttons mingle with flowing chiffon dresses and blouses. Split-skirts, accented with playful tassels, share space with cargo-inspired pants cut from organic denim. And knitwear comes in the form of snug cardigans adorned with delicate frills in soft lilac and yellow hues, crafted from responsibly sourced alpaca.In contrast, the fall collection has a refined, English countryside twist. “I aimed for everything to have a sense of being cherished hand-me-downs from a beloved family member,” she said at a preview in her East London studio. Sharp tailoring in mannish houndstooth patterns, feature blazers spiced up with cinched waists, maxi skirts, and straight-leg pants. Elsewhere, voluminous dresses and skirts create the illusion of technical fabric but are, in fact, made of high-shine viscose. A playful zebra print wool is transformed into coats, midi skirts, and blouses, adding further dimension to the lineup.
30 April 2024
“Traveling back and forth between the East and West keeps me alert because the pace of life is wildly different—it’s important to be reminded there’s a world beyond the immediate bubble we’re living in.” So shared Rejina Pyo at a preview in her north London studio this week. “This collection is my love letter to Seoul.” Steering clear of obvious symbolism and iconography, the collection subtly twisted the South Korean designer's signatures, resulting in a sleek homage to her home city.Her suits were crafted from lightweight wool and Tencel in olive and brown hues. Some included double-breasted jackets for a more mannish look, while others featured single-breasted styles with boning to emphasize a cinched waistline and statement buttons. She used recycled taffeta for puff-sleeve tops, party dresses, and wrap skirts, while full-length coats, bomber jackets, and cargo pants sets were made from a coated leatherette material that felt lightweight and soft to the touch.Inspired by a textile she stumbled upon at a market in Seoul, Pyo designed a hand-drawn print, which she incorporated into camisole dresses, midi skirts, and house coats. The collection gained added depth with the inclusion of sheer lace shirts, skirts, and floor-length cover ups. She also dedicated considerable effort to perfecting classic organic cotton tank tops.Pyo’s expertise lies in curating a harmonious range of separates in delectable, slightly unconventional hues, allowing wearers to easily mix and match pieces from her collections without overthinking things. She explained, “I wanted everything to complement each other without appearing deliberate. It’s all about achieving that balance between looking polished and casually undone—there’s something far more chic about that than being perfect.”
30 November 2023
Rejina Pyo opted out of the official show schedule earlier this year to prioritize the opening of her London flagship store. For fall, she shot her lookbook herself at Pegwell Bay on the English Channel.“I wanted to take the Rejina Pyo woman to the countryside,” said the designer of the collection’s mood. “It’s about letting loose—being wild and carefree, but also allowing space for vulnerability.” Voluminous party tops and dresses featured detachable giant bows as sleeves made out of a metallic laminated technical fabric; they’re notably waterproof, should one take the soirée outdoors. An ivory off-the-shoulder organic cotton blouse with extra-puffy sleeves would be another excellent choice for a night out.Her tailoring here leans mannish, in boxy wool silhouettes with pleated trousers. Twin sets make an appearance in the form of an iridescent viscose blend button-up shirt and a matching maxi skirt (one was in an outstanding crimson). Another moment includes a denim jacket and pants set adorned with a photo print of galloping horses (captured by Pyo during a vacation in South Africa in 2016). An ultra-soft camel hued coat, almost resembling “a luxurious bathrobe,” was constructed out of a wool alpaca blend.The shoes and accessories were in line with the outdoorsy theme of the collection. Knitted neckerchiefs, scarves, and beanies—all crafted from responsibly sourced Peruvian alpaca—added a cozy touch. However, the smile-inducing highlight was the cowboy-inspired kitten heel boots, which combined playfulness with an understated, contemporary vibe.
20 June 2023
Rejina Pyo’s approach to design goes beyond a concept-driven mindset. She focuses on the enjoyment and practicality of her garments, displaying a genuine curiosity about the individuals who wear her creations and how they incorporate them into their everyday lives. This pre-fall collection was brimming with fabulously cut pieces made to be lived in. “I always aim to create timeless clothes,” she asserted in a preview. “What sparks my curiosity most is imagining who might wear my pieces, and where they might be headed while wearing them. Is it a gallery? Perhaps dinner?”Off-center shapes and hues have long served as a distinctive hallmark of Pyo’s designs. In this collection, the designer honed in on a handful of eye-catching shades in her recognizable silhouettes. There’s a deep coral—bordering on neon—silk chiffon that’s been tailored into a skirt suit comprised of a low-cut jacket adorned with statement buttons and a pleated skirt. The outerwear offering included a diverse range of styles, including a faux snakeskin coat, a pistachio faux ostrich leather jacket, and a square-neck laminated cotton trench in vivid pink with a cracked effect.Organic denim separates featuring Pyo’s signature deep-hued wash stood out. A gilet-jacket hybrid silhouette felt especially fresh with its bomber jacket collar and quilted detailing across the front. There was also a printed silk version of the same jacket, just as enticing. A new logo made its debut in the collection: It features the designer’s ‘RP’ initials transformed into a bold insignia print adorning long-sleeve tops made for trans-seasonal layering.
17 June 2023
From my bench on the 28th floor, I could see the Baroque pomp of St. Paul’s; the hard brutalism of the Barbican; and the whatever-it’s-called, computer-generated fluid ergonomics of all the new skyscrapers erected in London’s financial center recently. Backstage, Rejina Pyo said the decision to overlook this traditionally masculine precinct of work was conscious. Over the opening Kronos track, an American-accented male voice matter-of-factly narrated the prejudices women face in the workplace (even though such inequality is unlawful).“The collection considers this historic idea of men and women in the workplace, and what they’re expected to look like, so it’s kind of ironic to be above this cityscape,” said Pyo. That the show’s most senior and well-remunerated participants and observers were overwhelmingly women—with men a minority chiefly relegated to functionary roles and the photo pit—was a little ironic too, but then fashion is an exceptional bubble. Pyo’s notes also finely quoted Dostoyevsky—another bloody man: “One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love.” Pyo added that the internal conflict she felt when returning to work after giving birth last October had sharpened her focus on the often opposing currents women must navigate between the domestic and the income-generating arenas.So what was today’s wearable solution? In truth the collection had none: Instead, the questions were contextual mood music, which served to unite Pyo’s constituency. There was tailoring, of course, handsome especially in the opening one-and-a-half-breasted jacket. The notion of providing women with the garments to present themselves on their own terms and according to their own self-directed gaze was expressed via opaquely sheer-colored dresses, skirts, and tops that were held against the body with pearlescent fastenings. The closing knitted dress, knitted headpieces, and knitted bras worn outside other garments were a reflection on both domestic labor and an evasion of the male gaze. There was a pale blue halter-neck dress, straightforward and strong, whose halters were looped through a golden bangle at the clavicle. A trucker jacket and trench in brown vegan leather were the stars of a suite of pieces fashioned from the material.Ultimately, this collection’s presentation and pitch felt reductively in thrall to a polarizing, dogmatic position on gender that was not nearly as nuanced and interesting as the clothes themselves.
18 September 2022
When Rejina Pyo isn’t in her atelier working on her latest collection, you’re most likely to find her in the kitchen. The Seoul-born designer released a cookbook in partnership with her chef husband,My Korean Kitchen, in 2017, and her personal Instagram account is a reliable source of envy-inducing dinners. So it made sense that after two years showing remotely—save for last season’s breathtaking spectacle at the Zaha Hadid-designed London Aquatics Centre starring synchronized divers—Pyo’s ambition, first and foremost, was to make sure her guests were well fed. To mark her return to a more intimate setting, every seat at The Aubrey restaurant in Knightsbridge was accompanied by cocktails, chopsticks, and sushi.“I came across this article about supper clubs in the 1920s,” said Pyo of the Prohibition era mainstay that inspired the underground (if still tangibly luxurious) atmosphere of the show. “I was so fascinated by how people were still trying to have a good time with their loved ones and friends, and the fact there were no boundaries—everyone was welcomed with open arms. I think the act of cooking and eating and sharing food is so grounding. It’s almost the most primitive act of being human beings, isn’t it?”Many designers talk about cultivating a sense of community around their brands, but for Pyo, it rings especially true. Her cult following returns time and time again for the consistency of her elevated, off-kilter riffs on wardrobe staples, whether the puff sleeves of her viral “Greta” dress, or her effortlessly wearable separates in the playful proportions and bold colors a certain kind of contemporary woman is always eager to buy. This season, that was realized in a broad, upbeat offering that catered to every corner of her customers’ busy lives. There were pretty, open-necked tops with ruched sleeves for the weekend, and chic slip dresses with unexpected tie details for a night out. The more masculine take on her signature boxy tailoring—some pieces cut in checked tweeds, others in powder blue cotton, all featuring gorgeously mismatched antique buttons—was eminently office-ready.Pyo channeled more ’20s touches in the stonewashed denim pieces that spoke to the nascent rise of workwear within that period, as well as a speakeasy-ready, Art Deco-inspired print that was given a diffused, post-digital twist. It was more about capturing that spirit of freedom and hedonism, she explained, than anything too literal.
“When you reference something like the 1920s, it could feel a bit too dated or retro, so I wanted to make sure it felt contemporary,” Pyo said. Also in the mix was Pyo’s first full offering of handbags: her previous efforts in the leather goods department have proven to be a hit with her clients. “We wanted it to have a very fluid, graphic sensibility,” she said of the new monogram she designed, an abstract interpretation of her initials that emblazoned felt totes and colorful shoulder bags.Most striking was a series of dresses featuring a gorgeous, painterly floral print, blown up by the designer to be ever-so-slightly abstracted. “I have this dream of being a fine artist one day,” said Pyo. Still, it was her charming, easy-to-wear garments that carefully balance form and function that will have Pyo’s customers ready to get dressed up once again for the workplace—or more importantly, as far as Pyo is concerned, for a night out. “I think there's always been a celebratory and inclusive spirit to the brand,” said Pyo. “We really think about what women feel like in the outfit, even something as simple as whether they can sit down and have dinner in it.” The show felt like a perfectly-timed celebration of everything her brand has to offer, with just the right amount of novelty to move it forward. Cheers to that.
21 February 2022
Rejina Pyo is 35 weeks pregnant, so one might say she has bigger fish to fry right now—but that’s actually a mindset that worked in her favor this season. “I don’t know if it’s the relaxing hormone kicking in, but I’m really not freaking out,” she said with a laugh when we spoke the day before her show. “I’ve been very calm.” In fairness, there could have been plenty to freak out about. This was her first show since the pandemic and she chose to stage it at the vast London Aquatics Centre, with theatrics by the Olympic GB Team divers Emily Martin, Josie Zilling, and Robyn Birch. Their alliance came about during Pyo’s visit to the venue, which happened to coincide with Team GB’s practice session for the Olympics. “We were mesmerized by them,” Pyo recalls, “and they were eager to be a part of the show, so it happened very organically.”There was a pared-back effortlessness to this collection that felt fresh for Pyo and it was evident from her opening look: the nonchalant way an orange sheer shirt was tied around the waist over a lime green lacy knit and pink bikini bottoms, and elsewhere, in the combination of a pair of extra-long raffia flares and a slouchy black T-shirt displaying a Korean street scene, printed from a photograph the designer took when she was a teenager. More of her photographs popped up: scenes of New York and Seoul were printed on pencil skirts and wrap-around tops, and featured on intarsia knit tanks, too. “They’re fragments of memories from past travels,” she said. “I guess I was looking back at them with a sense of nostalgia, they seemed to evoke freer days. I liked that they felt a bit naïve, back when there was nothing to worry about.” In other words, pre-pandemic. Pyo was thinking back to a time when she could hop on a plane as easily as hailing a cab. “I wanted to explore that feeling you get on holiday; when you might dress a little more adventurously, and that sense of anonymity you have when you’re away from home and you tend to let go a bit more.”A cartoonish mouse motif was inspired by a children’s book she regularly reads to her four-year-old son. On a spaghetti-strap slip dress it was juxtaposed with other seemingly random images—a director’s chair, a bird, a car—like snippets from a dream (regardless of pregnancy, Pyo has experienced vivid dreams her whole life). It’s also worth noting that this was her most sustainable collection yet.
Her two-toned orange and pink swimwear was made from Italian recycled nylon, and jeans were crafted in organic denim.Usually favouring more structured fabrics and silhouettes, there was a softness this season, which ushered in a new femininity. “I don’t think women need to pretend they’re physically as strong as men; it’s OK to be gentle sometimes and to embrace that,” she said, laughing. “I don’t know… maybe it's because I’m having a girl.”
19 September 2021
In September of 2019 Rejina Pyo held her spring 2020 collection in a London library, sending out crafty, summery separates full of promise and expression. “I’m not a fantasy fashion designer. I’m fascinated by people’s lives. And I want my clothes to live in their lives, and their wardrobes,” she told my colleague Luke Leitch at the time. Nearly two years later, Pyo is back at the same venue for fall 2021, only she’s landed in the building’s basement, setting up a secret, semi-illicit party for her lookbook shoot.Her inspiration for the collection was Billy Monk’s 1960s photographs of South African partiers, awkwardly captured mid cheers or dance move. It’s not The Great Gatsby or the Studio 54 mood so many are predicting post-pandemic. In that it feels more honest. Pyo still wants to create a wardrobe for people’s lives, no matter how strange they might be right now.She’s given up head-to-toe stylings in favor of an eclectic mix of sunbleached hoodies, patent midi-skirts, and printed silk lounge sets in the off palette of acid tangerine and clay.In general, Pyo’s colors skew to the weird this season: in-your-face turquoise paired with pure grass green and muted lemon, the strangeness amplified by the eclectic styling. Pyo described rummaging through vintage bins or mixing the wardrobes of an old man and a young girl—a bit haphazard and intentionally bizarre. On the backs of street-cast models, meeting each other for the first time on this shoot, the off-ness feels right. Pyo has her moments of serenity too, with chunky sage green suiting cinched with a simple string. No one knows what the future holds; Pyo is wise to embrace the uncertainty of our moment.
9 July 2021
You’re likely to have seen Rejina Pyo’s clothing on your neighborhood sidewalk, at your local café, or at a friend’s dinner party on the back of a chic but warm guest. Pyo’s clothing thrives in the realities of women’s lives, so it’s sort of a surprise that her collections have often been presented on a runway or photographed in an antiseptic studio. For pre-fall 2021 she rectified that, taking her practically minded collection to a location outside London—“someone’s granny’s house” she said on Zoom—where she found funny similarities between the stripe of an oversized shirt and the house’s wallpaper and delighted in the way her suited up polo and skirt look against a sorbet-hued bathroom.It’s the juxtaposition between right and wrong, stylish and outré, that makes Pyo’s clothing enticing. Some of her pieces for pre-fall, like an A-line midi dress with shoulder-swallowing bows and a wallpaper floral ruffle dress, are as girly as they come, almost saccharine but not quite. Others, like pajama pants with detachable cuffs and straight-leg ’80s dad jeans are boyish, tough even. In between are lots of wantable things, from a pleated skirt suit to a neon green knit dress knotted up at the waist with a crossbody bag gone awry. Pyo designs all these pieces, from big, boxy knits to slender stretch tops, with the gentle caress of a woman’s hand, never over-complicating a line or constricting the body inside it. Getting to see those clothes in her imagined environment makes them all the more believable.
4 June 2021