Style Icons
"What I am craving now is individual style."
I was asked recently to identify my style icon. Of course I responded in a fully geeked out and multi-pronged fashion as to my style icons, plural, and my reasoning behind those choices, because, 1) obviously that’s how I approach those kinds of questions, and 2) writing this newsletter has helped me to codify and clearly identify what it is I truly appreciate about the people that serve as my inspirations: they are willing to take creative risks but are always grounded in their knowledge of themselves and their tastes. This has actually served to reinforce my varied list of icons, some fairly traditional and some less so. I’m not sure my interlocutor appreciated my treatise and insights, but what can you do. Regardless, it made me consider how those style icons have developed their tastes and curious as to whether others’ individual aesthetic journeys have aligned with my own. In that vein, one of my style icons, Yumi Shin, whom I have had the good fortune to know and befriend, has kindly agreed to chat with me about her inspirations and her journey through the fashion industry.
When I say that Yumi has the best taste of almost anyone I know, I am not being hyperbolic. She comes from a family steeped in art and fashion and has worked with and for some of the most storied and unique brands in the industry, beginning as a buyer at Barneys (RIP) and continuing at Prada, Saks Fifth Avenue and, now, Bergdorf Goodman, where she serves as the Chief Merchandising Officer. Yumi has spent her career enthusiastically championing and shepherding the trajectories of the most special designers, large and small, established and emerging. She is a tireless advocate for unique product and her own best advertisement for that product, fashion and otherwise. Working alongside Yumi for years actively influenced my eye for fashion: my love for specific Japanese clothing brands is very much a result of getting to work the showrooms with Yumi and experience her infectious enthusiasm for the product. Yumi’s sense of style also reinforced my preexisting tastes - this is a woman who loves navy and layering sweaters as much as I do! Much of my wardrobe consists of dupes of Yumi’s (I have photographic evidence to prove it) and she is always who I think of when I am training my eye and pushing myself to be more advanced and forward.
The things that struck me most while chatting with Yumi were the parallels with regard to our original exposure to fashion and aesthetics as well as our current perspectives on taste and style. Yumi’s first and most meaningful exposure to aesthetics came from her mother: through observing her mother’s talent for curation and editing in all aspects of her life, Yumi began to develop her own sense of taste and appreciation for beauty. While not exactly analogous, my first exposure to and understanding of fashion was also through a family member: my brother. (I said some of my style icons were less conventional! If I turn this into a series everyone will get to see why MDW was my first style icon and remains one of my fashion icons to this day).
Yumi and I both collected magazines as kids, voraciously consuming printed media and closely following trend stories and the styling techniques of key figures in the industry. With the rise of social media and the fracturing of fashion editorial coverage, traditional print monthlies no longer dictate the conversation surrounding style and taste as they once did. As Yumi said to me, “[I don’t have] a single source of inspiration anymore like the magazines or curated content by editors. Now, it’s from a myriad of sources.” She references old fashion shows to help her to reinterpret ideas she may have already seen or clothes that she may already own, as well as to inspire her to style new items in a unique way. As previously discussed, I do a lot of the same via my art and fashion tomes as well as through referencing old photos of those people whose taste I admire. Yumi’s assertion about how she approaches fashion and taste given her extensive experience in the industry is one that matches my own thesis about personal taste and aesthetics: “I don’t want to be told what trends to wear or buy. I want to be inspired by how people put things together on their own,” she told me. (I appreciate there is some irony here in light of the name of my newsletter, but I’m mostly trying to talk myself out of buying everything, rather than talk others into it, although I’m always happy to do that too - love spending other people’s money).
I find it significant that someone like Yumi, who has always served as one of my sources of inspiration, is encouraging individual experimentation and developing one’s own personal taste, thus: use all of those resources available to find what you love and what makes you feel confident, wear it all, make mistakes, and have fun. Yumi may be one of my most meaningful influences, but I no longer feel simply like a stylistic extension of her. At this moment in our relationship, we recognize and appreciate each other’s love of fashion and frequently bounce aesthetic (and other) ideas off of each other. I have folded some of her codes in with my own values and utilized them to refine and develop my own taste; despite the overlap in our wardrobes, we typically style those pieces in unique ways. There are also plenty of staple pieces in my wardrobe that I know Yumi would never wear. With that said, I still used Yumi’s list of what she wants to buy for Fall to help refine my own list - when it comes to my personal purchases I can always use the help of an outside editor (or, let’s be honest, an enabler!). Below are some excerpts from our conversation in Yumi’s own (lightly edited) words.
Yumi on her sources of inspiration:
I used to collect magazines, but now that I don’t look at physical magazines anymore, it’s all digital content: I no longer have a single source of inspiration but, rather, a myriad of sources. For me, being in the industry really keeps me inspired. I have a consistent stable of brands that I love and continually look to for inspiration: Sacai, The Row, Loewe, old Céline - I keep referencing old Céline shows. In addition to Céline, I find myself referencing other shows, like old Prada, old Dries, The Row, and they serve to remind me of what it is I love about fashion. There are so many different ideas in those shows and every time you re-look at them, there is something new that you discover. I’m reinterpreting those ideas in a modern way, like The Row Spring skirt with a jacket tied around the waist or the Fall coat with the thick cardigan tied around your shoulders as a shawl; I just love all of that styling and personal interpretation. I’m always inspired when I travel, just from simply enjoying a coffee in an outdoor cafe and watching people. Over the years, I feel like I’ve seen so many trends reiterated - nothing is really new - and so what I am craving is individual style.
Her first exposure to fashion/aesthetics:
I would have to say it was my mother: she loved aesthetics and that’s where it really started for me. She was a ceramic artist and she was very, very talented. She always had an eye for aesthetics: it wasn’t solely about fashion or clothing, it was interiors, art, really how everything was curated, even the dinner table! Everything was impeccable. From an early age, ever since I was a toddler, I remember people commenting on my clothing, because she dressed me very well, very stylishly. She had a really nice taste for clothing that wasn’t too feminine, it had some volume, kind of oversized [I got a good chuckle from that description as it is also fairly spot on for Yumi’s aesthetic sensibility!]. I remember this one turtleneck dress that I hated to wear, but now I look back on it and think, that was really cute! And now I make my own daughter wear it, and she hates it, so it’s all cyclical.
On the development of her personal style:
I don’t feel like I’ve consciously focused on consistency in my taste or my style, I just know what works for me and what gives me confidence. Plus, for me now, it’s all about comfort. I never went through a super feminine or a very colorful period, but I do appreciate femininity and color, it just didn’t give me the confidence that some other things did. Obviously everyone has a different interpretation of what “feminine” is and I used to occasionally wear more fitted clothing, but there was always some sort of contrast: if it was fitted then it would have a long sleeve, or a higher neckline, so that there was always a balance. These days, I do seek out more print and color. I went through a period where I only wore black, but now, I don’t feel as bright in black. My mother always said that one day I would appreciate color more; I guess she was right!
A meaningful fashion moment:
When I was a buyer at Barneys, one of my first buying trips was to Antwerp to buy Dries Van Noten. At that time, when we travelled, we had to bring our own printer, nothing was digital, we had to take pictures of the buy on polaroids, it was a completely different era. So it took a lot longer to do these buys! I was in the showroom for two days and they played this amazing Carla Bruni soundtrack over and over. Dries found out how much I loved the soundtrack and he came over to my table and gave me the cd. It was so meaningful to me because of course he’s a genius, but he’s also so kind and that emanates through his work and how he conducts himself. I’ve had a lot of fashion moments throughout my career, but this was a personal one: I was a new buyer, and everything was so exciting.
Bonus: Yumi’s list of things she wants to buy for Fall:
You and I probably have the same list already, but my list is too long! There’s so much. There is this Sacai grey pinstriped ruffle pantsuit that I have my name on as well as this black (surprisingly, it’s black) shirt jacket with this beautiful, couture white basting stitch on top that felt so different for her and I have to have it because I have nothing like it in my closet from Sacai. [You and I already] talked about The Row, and I just loved all of their trenches with the attached scarves that you can play with and wrap around. I also want those The Row sock shoes but in the bootie shape. They’re sexy but not in an obvious way. There was so much from Bottega that I loved. The Loewe oversized puzzle tote is a good item, also super functional. [At this point I start interjecting and predicting her choices and the conversation devolves into us giggling while comparing photos of various ridiculous things we “need” and reminiscing on some of the pieces we share and wear most often.] I have been reinterpreting my closet and refreshing and updating it with accessories. I have this newfound love for accessories and statement jewelry; I’ve been playing with color in my wardrobe through accessories. I really appreciate craft and investment pieces because you get your money’s worth - one can wear them every day. I still wear all of my old Céline pieces in my wardrobe. I always get my cost per wear with those pieces.