By Pablo Breton | Music as heard on SPIN

Interview with Sarah Nami Ahn, NAMI

 
Sarah Nami Ahn’s collection recently made memorable runway appearances at  both NY and LA Fashion Weeks. We loved her designs, so thought we’d ask her come questions about her inspirations and background. Get ready for an inspiring story.

FWDOTLA: You were born in Korea, but lived more than 20 places before settling in Los Angeles. What were some of your favorite places, and what role do you think all the change has had in your career or vision?

Rika (Q Models).

SNA: It comes as a surprise to many people when I tell them that my favorite place growing up was the little town of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin (back then a population of about 10,000). Being an army brat, it’s always a hard question to answer when someone asks me where my hometown is. I say Sun Prairie because it was where our family lived the longest. Moving gets harder and harder as you get older. Our ability to adapt to changes, and make new friends and teachers becomes harder as we age because everyone else around us has established a bond of history together that we army kids can’t relate to.

I really enjoy meeting new people. I see it as unraveling a new present. What’s in inside? How does this person differ from any other?

People’s stories fascinate me. Places fascinate me as well … the architecture tells us a bit about what it might have seen over the years. I believe that with all of my moving and traveling over the years, that I have a large bank of inspiration to draw from in terms of what might spring out into my designs.

While there, we helped build 40 bamboo homes in 6 days with over 700 volunteers from all over the world. It was just an amazing experience. You meet the most generous, easy to get to know, lovely people who have taken the time and money out of their busy lives to do something so selfless.

I plan on making my way back to Nepal next spring to explore opportunities to support the local economy.

That end being a culmination of some form of philanthropic foundation that can give back to our communities and help fulfill our civic duty as citizens of this world to help one another live a better life.

FWDOTLA: You have a PhD in the neurosciences from UCLA. It’s interesting (or maybe appropriate) that you have a scientfic background, as your designs showcased during New York and LA Fashion Week had a decidedly science fiction twist. Simple, flowing, as though part of a more perfect, elegant future world. It’s interesting how certain utopian (or even dystopian) science fiction movies portray the future as more simple, with robots or computers doing a large part of the work, whereas the reality of progress seems to be the opposite. What’s the function or inspiration behind the simplicity of the looks? And do you think we secretly yearn for a simpler world?

Caity (Q Models).

SNA: You have an interesting view of my transition from science to the arts that no one else has brought up yet. I can understand why many are shocked by the leap. I just met with my PhD advisor yesterday, who also came to my show on Saturday.

I told her that I tell people that my background science absolutely helps me in my designs.

(My paper.)

In both science and in fashion, I’ve been able to design / problem-solve with given parameters. In science, you have to be creative in order to ask the right questions and design the most effective way to test the question you want to ask.

I find the challenge to be invigorating.

I really DO feel that the world seeks a simpler way of life. We are inundated with information on a daily basis with the advent of social media which I admittedly use on a daily basis. The pace of our lives had gotten faster by the invention of technologies that are trying to make certain aspects of our lives easier. I feel that secretly or openly, we do crave the nostalgia that the imagery of slow sunny Sunday afternoons at the park with our eyes closed against the warm sun and soaking in the smells of crisp autumn leaves can conjure for us.

I chose fabrics that feel light and airy on the skin and that moves around the body in the most wonderfully mesmerizing way. You can see if a woman feels this way in the clothes she’s wearing by the way she walks and smiles. There’s an extra bounce in her step. I just want the inner princess that exists in everyone woman to come out and play. The inner princess that knows and deserves to embrace the benefits of being a woman. We are sensual, soft, and just stunning … let’s let it shine!

FWDOTLA: I’m facinated at the pendants that accompany a large part of your designs. They remind me of the tracking devices in Logan’s Run, the 1970s TV show that would turn a color when citizens would turn a certain age. There’s something intriguing and maybe even vaguely sinister about them. They also look pretty cool. Who designed them, and how do you feel they work with the ensembles?

SNA: Ha!

This also follows along the same lines of slowing our lives down just a bit to notice the unnoticeable things. The design and shape of the door hinges are just beautiful with its curves and edgy due to the weight of the metal. Added the leather strands in an asymmetrical manner to break up the soft and romantic textures of the collection.

FWDOTLA: What designers or art have influenced you, and what new looks or inspiration are you interested in exploring?

SNA: I’m really into mid-century modern in interior design (George Nelson lamps), furniture design (Eames chairs), and clean minimalistic lines of modern architecture.

I developed a love for the art of origami very early when my dad first taught me how to fold a paper crane. I really enjoy the designs of Issy Miyake and the romantic lines of Lanvin by Albert Elbaz.

FWDOTLA: You were recently added to the Spring 2011 Collection of Laundry by Shelli Segal. How did that come about, and what does it mean in terms of people being able to purchase your designs?

SNA: In May 2010, I left FIDM, where I was a student for about 6 months, to transfer to Parsons for fashion design. I left in the middle of a busy quarter and found myself suddenly with a lot of time on my hands.

I had seen the contest “Design the Perfect Little Black Dress” online on the FIDM Career Center before I had left so I said, why not just submit an idea? They had said that winners would be announced in mid-June. I was in Chicago, where my husband is a professor at Northwestern University (also where I did a postdoctoral fellowship), around that time but hadn’t heard anything so I assumed that I wasn’t the winner. I continued taking my intro to interior design class at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

When that course finished, I decided to reapply to Parsons for interior design. Got into the program. Then I decided to defer for one quarter to get some work experience in the field before I spend more time and more money on schooling. So I applied for an internship at 24 design firms in Chicago, so I could live with my husband for the quarter and only 1 place in LA, Kelly Wearstler.

Kelly Wearstler’s firm would be the only place in LA that I would move back and away from my husband for. Long story short, I interviewed with her and got the position on the spot and then my husband and I left for a trip to Sydney, Australia. When we had arrived that morning in Sydney, I checked my email and found something that almost looked like spam.

And I’d been trying to keep a long-distance marriage work with my husband all to pursue this inkling of a dream to create something. For that one moment … I felt that all the risks I took to do this was validated.

The dress was sold from March to very recently when it was sold out completely.

As far as my own collection, we will announce in February of all the places it will be available as well as our own website. So stay tuned!

FWDOTLA: What’s your advice for designers just starting out, and what do you see for your own future?

SNA: Advice for designers just starting out? I’M a designer just starting out!

Multi-tasking and organization of your thoughts and tasks is very important if you’re largely a one-woman / man team. Surround yourself with people that are supportive of you AND … this is something I don’t do very well, but take breaks away from the work.

I finished my PhD work in 4 years when the national average is 6 for the neurosciences. I ran 5 marathons for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with Team in Training. I don’t do anything at half-speed. What do I see for my own future? I am running to the moon and hoping to land amongst the starts.

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Models via Chris Saavedra, Q Management.