Meet Rejina Pyo, the designer making beautiful clothes for real women

It can take years, if not decades, to become a leading name in the fashion industry.

But designer Rejina Pyo could well become just that thanks to her beautiful creations and a plethora of street style icons clambering to wear her eponymous label.

Add a Fashion Awards nomination to the mix (Pyo’s up for the ‘British Emerging Talent – Womenswear’ accolade at the annual extravaganza, held at the Royal Albert Hall on 4 December) and you’ve got yourself one label you really need to know about.

Compared to the rest of the London Fashion Week circuit, Pyo’s designs are somewhat affordable. A pair of jeans will set you back around £270 and you can expect to pick up a covetable wool coat for around the £589 mark.

The labels garments stand out – think billowing sleeves, eye-catching silhouettes and pops of colour – but will seamlessly work with your existing wardrobe. They’re wearable. And, as Pyo herself is keen to point out, suitable for all women and all occasions.

“When I became pregnant my body changed drastically and it definitely informed my design process to be inclusive of different body types and how that should be celebrated,” the Seoul-born designer tells Yahoo Style UK.

“Now, with the baby, I’m more active than ever so I do not want to lose the practical side of the collection.”

It’s not just practicality and a will to champion diversity that motivates Pyo. Driven by a desire to promote sustainability and craft long-lasting ensembles, her collections steer clear of flash-in-the-pan trends.

“The Rejina Pyo customer is confident in herself, she possesses a quiet natural elegance and a playful attitude towards fashion,” she says. “She is less about trends and more about quality interesting garments that will speak to her personality and personal style.

“My biggest qualm about the fashion industry is the environmental impact. So, I aim to create designs and garments that are as sustainable as possible. I always want to create designs that will be kept for a long time.”

But it isn’t just the responsibility of designers, Pyo points out. While many women are shopping more consciously these days and swapping cheap high street pieces for garments with a much longer shelf life, there’s still a long way to go.

“As consumers we need to be educated about diversity, sustainability, and environmental impact – to confront these issues not just as a one off thing and be more responsible and thoughtful with our purchases.”

So, how does a designer put together a collection? It’s all about improving on the season before, says Pyo.

“My mind evolves and so as the collection,” she tells us. “I have a vague notion of what I want to express. And I go and research to make that clear. Fabrics, colours, silhouettes… I sketch by hand as well as drape with cloth and work with my team to to develop each individual piece to fitting to final design to make the pieces desirable.”

It was Pyo’s mother, who worked in fashion, that sparked her love of clothing, fabrics and design. “Playing with fabrics and sketching, I started to make my own designs very young and I have been doing so ever since,” the mum-of-one says.

“I am also very interested by sculpture and abstract art, and how you can apply those techniques and ideas to intersect with designing garments.”

Watch this space – we have a feeling we’ll be hearing the name ‘Rejina Pyo’ a lot more in the near future.

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