Who did you design for before you started your own company?

My mother and I became designers by necessity. We did not design for anyone else, but grew up in a do-it-yourself household making everything from curtains, pillows to clothing.

We found that we naturally had artistic talents through hands on practice. Both my mother and I never attended design school, we are completely self taught.  

I attended NYU as an English and Writing major and my mother studied art and painting in South Korea. We both had a passion for painting at home together and understood color combinations through our love of painting.  

Immigrating to the US back in the mid 70's, my mother soon realized how difficult it was to raise and support a family. Both of my parents would try to make ends meet by taking on all types of jobs.  

My mother once told me that she would often day dream inside dept stores. She admired the beautiful clothing being presented in the windows but she knew she could never attain them. Instead she would spend her free time at fabric stores and as a young child I would follow becoming a natural apprentice. 

It must have been tough to start your own business in an industry that is dominated by big names, how did you get started?

After many years of saving up working at different jobs, factories, retail stores, my parents opened a small clothing boutique and my mother became a buyer. At a young age, I was always by her side at buying trips in the NYC garment district, trade shows and what was then, the Lower east side fabric district on a regular basis.  

I remember she would always complain about the selection and the incorrect fit. She was always hands on in the dressing room for her clients and could not believe how some of the clothing draped on even the most stunning women.

She would always say that there was so much choice for the young contemporary category but not much selection for the updated women's category. This was about the time when I was about to graduate from NYU and I asked her "why not create our own line?"  I was very much interested in the creative and business part of fashion and felt confident with testing out the waters at our first debut. We brainstormed for months and created a 20 piece "essentials collection" and went on to present in NY and Las Vegas.

It was a slow but successful start with many difficult obstacles, but we stuck with it.  

The buyers we started relationships with praised the line and gave us the confidence to keep pushing and we seemed to keep growing from that day on. The road was definitely not easy and it took a lot of grit and strength to become established.

I think we both fulfilled each other's weaknesses and powered through with our strengths.  

Looking back, we are both so happy we did.