Tag: asian fashion

Audrey Magazine – YesStyle’s CEO Joshua Lau

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Asian Street Style: Interview With Joshua K. Lau, Founder of Retail Giant YesStyle.com – Min A. Lee For Audrey Magazine

We love Asian street trends, beauty styles and brands, but there was a point in time where accessibility was difficult.  While Asian dramas were circulating online through various sites and engaging a new international audience, fans craved to have tangible products versus online downloads and streaming.  YesAsia was founded in 1998 when Joshua K. Lau and Priscilla Chu addressed the growing need of consumers interested in Asian entertainment goods along with the neologistic Hallyu wave that was flowing across Asia in the late 1990s.

As interest surged, so did the fascination with Asian clothing styles and brands being seen in that entertainment world.  As online retail reached new heights in the 2000s, YesAsia, again at the forefront, breached the barrier to Asian street fashion by launching YesStyle in 2006.  Those coveted looks could suddenly be easily searched and bought through the e-commerce giant.

From financial analyst to founder and CEO, Stanford University graduate Joshua K. Lau shares with us a bit of the history regarding the expansion into Asian fashion with YesStyle and future aspirations for this sector of his company.

Audrey Magazine: As the world’s largest online retailer for Asian fashion, what compelled or inspired you to create YesStyle?

Joshua K. Lau: We found that many people were interested in and eager to try out Asian fashion, and we’re always looking for ways to serve our customers. We thought that we could provide reliable service and a large selection of quality products to fill this need. We now carry fashion from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and recently have begun carrying fashion from China.

AM: When did you first find an interest in fashion, particularly street wear and street styles, and e-commerce platforms?  

JKL: Our business started in 1998 as YesAsia.com, which sells Asian entertainment products online, so we’re familiar with e-commerce operations. Then in 2006, I noticed that my wife, Priscilla (who’s also a co-founder of the company), was buying clothing online. After that, we decided to launch YesStyle.com.

AM: What motivates you to keep building your company?

JKL: I love to see our ideas realized. On a daily basis, we come up with and implement new ideas to serve our customers and improve our business. It’s fun to watch it happen.

AM: Since the establishment of YesStyle.com in 2006, can you share with our readers some of the challenges that have emerged over the years and some of your favorite accomplishments?

JKL: It’s been a challenge for us to remain competitive while also making quality a priority, and I’m proud that we’ve been able to maintain that balance. We’ve seen competitors offer fashion at very low prices but with sub-standard quality, and we think it’s necessary to avoid that path.

AM: What do you feel are some of the pros and cons that social media advances have presented since the beginning of YesStyle?

JKL: Social media can help us tremendously. If we serve our customers well and they’re happy with YesStyle, they’ll tell their friends using social media. It’s happening much faster than a few years ago, so we make it a priority to ensure every customer is satisfied with the products and services from YesStyle. In the end, we hope that they’ll pass their good experience with YesStyle on to their friends.

AM: What are your goals for the future of YesStyle, and how do you see your company changing in the next few years?

JKL: We’re always working to improve customer experience with YesStyle. For example, we recently launched a YesStyle App for mobile devices and will update it regularly. We’re also expanding our selection with Korean beauty items and lifestyle products. We want to become the place where people can find the most fashionable products from Asia without actually travelling there. – See more at: http://audreymagazine.com/asian-street-style-interview-with-joshua-k-lau-founder-of-retail-giant-yesstyle-com/#sthash.pfDBb5Iv.dpuf

 

Image Courtesy Of Audrey Magazine Via YesStyle

Audrey Magazine – MBFW Tokyo: Noir FR

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Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Tokyo Recap: Noir FR – Min A. Lee for Audrey Magazine

Ah yes, the dark side of spring. While we enjoy seeing the lighter and bolder color palettes Fashion Week Tokyo has to offer, Noir Fr’s designer, Syota Masuda, refuses to leave the blacks and metallics of fall and winter behind. The namesake of the collection explains why such somber tones are used: Noir Frere is French for brothers of black (the base for the designs). Masuda initially studied to be a fashion buyer, but found himself taking the leap to become a designer and produce garments that he felt the market lacked.

Don’t let the darkness hinder you from adding some black into your spring and summer rotation. For the warm temperatures Noir Fr has dresses of flowing, sheer fabrics with cutouts and skirts to pair with metallic paneled tops. On those inbetween days of seasonal transition, check out the iridescent trench coat of bronze and blue or the long-line, minimalist moto collar jacket. With both a men’s and women’s line, Masuda’s designs tackle all the on-going, evolving trends from pro sport textiles to edgy rocker styles with modified elements befitting to his vision. Below are some of Masuda’s Noir Fr S/S 2015 line from Day Three of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo. – See more at: http://audreymagazine.com/tag/mercedes-benz-fashion-week-tokyo/#sthash.mZN1XuPq.dpuf

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Images Courtesy Of Audrey Magazine Via MBFW Tokyo

Audrey Magazine – Interview With KUMANN’S Yoo Hye Jin

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Article Written For Audrey Magazine

Inside South Korean Label KUMANN YOO HYE JIN by Min A. Lee

“Futuristic Folklore” is a befitting title to understanding HyeJin Yoo’s perspectives on spring fashion with her presentation for KUMANN YOO HYE JIN 2015.  This isn’t a collection for those who prefer safer, ready-to-wear lines. This is about appreciating symbolism, engineering and a bit of mathematics.  Beauty is found within the heavily structured looks with a nod towards today’s science fiction animation and technology printed on pastel jacquards, organzas and cottons.  Yes, those are definitely spaceships.  If you aren’t into sci-fi, she has equally interesting and provoking designs in neutral to bright shades.

Yoo works endlessly to create masterpieces that are becoming the future we can expect from the Kumann studio, while she continues to build stability for the label.  We knew viewing her clothing would bring thoughtful discussion, so we reached out to learn more about this designer that expertly molds together so many contrasting ideas into a well-balanced and fluid collection.

Audrey Magazine: When you became the head of Kumann, how did you want to redefine the label, and how do feel that style translates into your current SS 2015 collection?

HyeJin Yoo: Kumann is the name originated from the early studio of the company. When I decided to start working on the label, I felt that I needed to reconsider the story of the studio, and its original value and identity. I have been re-identifying the brand’s characters in constructive design and original graphic patterns, which are based on different concepts of seasonal collections. Particularly, for spring and summer 2015, I interpret the concept of the future and folklore with specific color arrangements and computer-embroidered spaceship images made in 3D graphics.

AM: With the SS 2015 concept of “Futuristic Folklore,” have you always had an interest in those patterns and sci-fi animation?  What inspired you to put the two concepts together as one?

HJY: Sci-fi movies and ideas of cyborgs have been greatly influencing my ideas. I am directing the brand as a high-end boutique, but I do love to mix it up with images and symbols from sub-culture. I have also been very much interested in the theoretical ideas of time and space in a parallel universe, and in Buddhism. Basically, I think that people are very accustomed to a dichotomous way of thinking. Dualism affects our perceptions and languages by dividing things in the extreme, but I think that any of those two extremes could be blended just like other previous concepts, ‘Nostalgic Future’ and ‘Urban Shamanist’.

AM: What sort of emotions do you hope to evoke for viewers and wearers of your designs?

HJY: I am drawing a woman who wears uniqueness and originality of her own. I hope both viewers and wearers have exceptional experiences and at the same time will feel assertive and happy. – See the entire interview and more at: http://audreymagazine.com/inside-south-korean-label-kumann-yoo-hye-jin/#sthash.osq7wgVB.dpuf

 

Audrey Magazine – YesStyle’s Joshua K. Lau

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From my writing with Audrey Magazine.  An interview with YesAsia and YesStyle’s founder and CEO, Joshua K. Lau – find the full article here at audreymagazine.com

We love Asian street trends, beauty styles and brands, but there was a point in time where accessibility was difficult.  While Asian dramas were circulating online through various sites and engaging a new international audience, fans craved to have tangible products versus online downloads and streaming.  YesAsia was founded in 1998 when Joshua K. Lau and Priscilla Chu addressed the growing need of consumers interested in Asian entertainment goods along with the neologistic Hallyu wave that was flowing across Asia in the late 1990s.

As interest surged, so did the fascination with Asian clothing styles and brands being seen in that entertainment world.  As online retail reached new heights in the 2000s, YesAsia, again at the forefront, breached the barrier to Asian street fashion by launching YesStyle in 2006.  Those coveted looks could suddenly be easily searched and bought through the e-commerce giant.

From financial analyst to founder and CEO, Stanford University graduate Joshua K. Lau shares with us a bit of the history regarding the expansion into Asian fashion with YesStyle and future aspirations for this sector of his company. – See more at: http://audreymagazine.com/asian-street-style-interview-with-joshua-k-lau-founder-of-retail-giant-yesstyle-com/#sthash.mrxkBPaV.dpuf

 

Fashion Writing

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am

I enjoyed an amazing year and half with Audrey.  Sadly, they are on a hiatus currently, but still go and check out http://www.audreymagazine.com to read my articles as well as articles from Audrey’s fashion forward editors and writers.

Thank you to former Editor-In-Chief, Anna Park, for the spotlight feature in the winter 14 issue.