MODA Designer Profile: Eugenia Ko
Introduction:
I’m a fourth-year, Econ major, Design Director of MODA - For your reference Joseph, this means I’m on the board, interviewed/manage all the designers, and am in charge of the designer bootcamp program.
What are some sources of inspiration for your collection?
I’m very interested in men’s suiting fabrics and mixed textures this year. My collection features patterns and textures commonly used for men’s suiting (hounds tooth, plaid, tweed, wool) in less conventional and stuffy silhouettes. I’m also using knit fabrics in creams and browns because I’m interested in how they pair with stiffer suiting fabrics, and what the construction process of the kind of softer fabric I like wearing entails. Since this will be my last collection for MODA, my looks this year also draw on themes I’ve explored previously and continue to be inspired by, like the shape of sleeves and the concept of “nude” and what that looks like on different bodies.
Have you ever done fashion design work before? What are some of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of the process?
This will be my third and final year designing in the show. Since my first MODA show as part of the Designer Bootcamp Program when I had little to no sewing knowledge, this year’s design process has felt like a culmination of everything I’ve learned and all the tools I’ve gained. The most challenging part of fashion design and construction for me has always been finding a way to reduce all the ideas and inspirations I have throughout the process into four final looks. It always involves a lot of hard choices and doubts, and each year it’s become more challenging as I try to grow my work from the year before to do something both new and true to what I like. Overcoming that though, and ending up with a collection I am proud of is incredibly rewarding. The fact that MODA has let me design for so many years is very humbling.
The most rewarding part of the pre-MODA show process this year, though, has definitely been planning the DBC program. I found a huge passion in fashion design and construction through the DBC program, and it’s been extremely rewarding watching other students experience that and find their own design processes for the first time.
Left: Eugenia’s collection second year. Right: Eugenia’s collection third-year
What are you looking forward to most about the show?
Working with both designers and the MODA board for the first time this year, I’ve gained a more complete understanding of everything that goes into making a show like Studio MODA happen. I’m incredibly excited for all the moving parts to come together and for everyone’s work to pay off. I’ve experienced the lead-up to the MODA show only as a designer in the past, and it’s always a really special feeling to see the culmination of all your work and ideas walking on the runway. I think that experience is going to be extra special this year, having gained an appreciation for everything MODA has done in preparation, and having seen other designers’ processes and progress, some of whom had no sewing knowledge until this quarter.
Studio MODA will also be my final year designing, so I’m excited to be a MODA designer and share my work for the last time, but also to attend my last MODA show with my friends and family at such a cool venue.
Who do you have in mind when you’re designing?
My mom (who taught me how to dress myself and use a sewing machine), my models, and my audience.
If you could give yourself any advice on the design process, what would you say to your younger self?
Start sewing earlier but be okay with the last minute changes.
What’s your favorite aspect of the design process?
I didn’t feel this way at first, but I’ve come to really enjoy how fluid my design process is. As hard as I’ve tried to plan and prepare how I’m going to design and construct four looks, I’ve found that that’s not really possible. In each of the years that I’ve designed for MODA, creative choices I look back on fondly have always happened last minute or as a result of mistakes and alterations I didn’t foresee making. I’m rarely able to stick to sketches, and always go through multiple rounds of fabric shopping. But that’s a part of my design process that I really enjoy, even though it makes for a chaotic couple of weeks. That chaos definitely applies to my design process this year. As it’s my last year designing, the process has been more challenging than in the past, mostly because the finality of my last year as a designer has made the process more reflective and nostalgic, so I’ll rethink and redraw more frequently. I’ve resigned to just embracing it. My roommate is also designing in the show this year, and I’ve really enjoyed sharing my design process with someone else for the first time. I also love how much of a MODA mess our apartment has become.
