How surreal can be our reality? Anna and Isabel in a fashion story shot by Marco Giuliano and styled by Anca Macavei, with pieces designed by young Korean creative Gyurin Na.
Let’s start with the inevitable, tell us about your brand? Its quite new but its already had much exposure!
Hello! My name is Gyurin Na. I’m very glad to show my capsule collection “SEMBRA VERO” here in these images. To briefly introduce my background, I was born in Seoul, South Korea. I studied fashion in Milan, Italy. I majored in Womenswear pattern cutting at Istituto Secoli because I had a great interest in the technical part of fashion at that time. It was a great experience to learn lots of various techniques and knowledge for understanding garments. Even though, I had to come back to my country from Milan right after the graduation last year because of the pandemic, I’m grateful about my experience in Milan and it’s still a big inspiration to me.
After working on my graduation collection, it came natural to me to consider creating my own label. Working independently is very motivating because I like to challenge myself to be more creative and authentic. Recently, I launched a womenswear brand called “QUASI PURITY” which is based in Seoul. I am running the brand together with my co-founder who is a graphic designer and 3D artist. Quasi Purity is a womenswear brand for the inclusive. For those with diverse interests and elastic attitudes. We also pursue both physical and virtual/digital fashion.
From what I understand, you studied music prior to fashion. Do your previous studies in music somehow correlate with your brand now?
I was influenced by my dad who is a composer and started playing music when I was a kid. I played the piano for many years and I decided to go overseas to Amsterdam and study jazz piano. I studied at Amsterdam Conservatory for a while and music is still one of my big inspirations. Interestingly, it seems like my taste in fashion reflects my taste in music. I like to listen to eclectic genres of music and when I design, I also like to use different prints, textures and styles. Like jazz improvisations, I would like to be free and make a brand that continuously changes.
What was the point of realisation that you knew you wanted to pursue fashion?
During my years in Conservatory, living abroad by myself and the thought that I am not talented at music and the depression led me to stop the study. It was a low point in my life but I started a hobby of making small fashion items like t-shirts and skirts and I was very interested in it and thought maybe I could study designing. Of course, it was not easy to start something completely new. There was a time when I was dressing a model with clothing that I made. She said she liked the clothing and wanted to even buy it, I felt great joy and a sense of achievement. That is how I realised that fashion is something that I wanted to pursue.
Do most of your inspirations for your collections come from a Surrealism vs. Reality concept like your latest collection, “Seems Real”?
I am quite interested in new and upcoming trends. At the time when I was preparing for my graduation collection, I was into the theme of “the times when we can replicate reality through technology”. I developed the collection with the concept of reality replication. The inspirations pushed me to make big ball buttons like mocap sensors, geometric silhouettes and digitally scanned prints.
For the new brand that I am launching and for its SS2021 collection, I had the idea of a cyber agent that is in realisation of her new identity. I made a wearable ready-to-wear capsule collection of tight silhouettes, soft textures combined with sharp shaped military tags and prints of bullets. I had an image of soft but strong women and wanted to express that feeling. I think I might make a digital version of this collection as well.
So to answer your question, yes my ideas tend to circle around surrealism and reality and I really think the reality is surreal. I do tend to focus on the feeling or expression of it though.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far since starting your brand?
As we are a starting brand with only two people, we had to not only design but do many different tasks like the paperwork, branding and building a website. We made some mistakes and there was a lot of stress. The biggest lesson for me was that fashion is volatile. For example when manufacturing, things don’t always go the way you had planned. It is important to solve the problem with patience. Good communication is very much needed because you are not working by yourself. For me personally managing the stress is also critical I feel. I know it sounds cliche but it’s true.
What future plans are held (and can be shared) for the QUASI PURITY brand?
A lot of interesting things are happening in the world right now. Brands are trying to be more innovative and creative and also more sustainable. We want to explore as much as we can in terms of how we can build a brand that makes good clothing while also staying creative and sustainable. We see a lot of amazing innovations and nature inspired solutions like fabrics printed with ink made from proteins in algae which are sustainable instead of chemicals that damage the environment. We want to utilize these amazing innovations and make our manufacturing process as less environmentally impactful as we can.
Credits:
Photography: Marco Giuliano / @marcogiulianoph
Styling: Anca Macavei / @ancamacavei
Fashion: Gyurin Na/ @gyul_v @quasipurity_official
Interview: Maylyn Bertorelli / @twiggymay
Models:
Anna at Major Models / @aksamitt @majormodelsmilan
Isabelle / @isabellewabbit
Daniel Turner / Alchemical matters