A MOMENT WITH YOMI FOUNDER

Why did you name the brand YOMI - what does it mean/ come from?

It was actually from my husband Dimitri, who has roots in Asia where the name YOMI originates, and when he discovered it and shared it with me, it was a name that actually resonated to us both very instinctually. Dimitri and I work collaboratively across both of our labels, so the sharing of inspirations and interests is a natural thing between us and with the word YOMI, there was a gradual progression that happened where, as the (currently nameless at this stage) YOMI brand evolved, it felt right for the name to belong to me and become part of the project I was developing. 

The word YOMI originates from the Ancient Chinese word meaning, ‘underground spring,’ which represents the conflicted yet harmonious relationship between darkness and light, night and day, and human consciousness and subconscious. YOMI is symbolic of the 'in-between space.' This is the best example of the universe in which YOMI exists -  the ‘air’ and life to everything.

Could you walk us through the concept that sparked your debut collection of block-coloured blazers and jackets with distinctive buttons? What was the initial inspiration that got the creative process rolling?

YOMI has been born from a plethora of inspirations, re-capturing and retelling a visual history that spans various eras, personas, feelings and lived experiences, capturing an essence of this and to give it a new lease of life. 

A significant part of this inspiration I would say comes from my childhood, those informative years where you find yourself enchanted and enveloped by key characters in your life that inevitably shape you by their very own creativity and independence. Their elegance, grace, intuition and natural poise I find infectious and fascinating, and it is where I began my own journey to understand that magnetic pull some women possess; the mystère femme, the ‘Diva’. The collection in a lot of ways is a love note to these inspirational women and nostalgic feelings.

The concept and the world that sustained YOMI was inevitably (but not something I realized immediately nor initially) deeply connected to my own mother and grandmother's personality and style.

The gold touches (mainly the buttons) and the colors come from a shared love my grandmother and I have for extravagant adornments, “shiny vibrant sparkly things” as she would say- there are button designs that I have developed directly from her earring collection, which are such a joy to see reimagined on the blazers today. You could say, my grandmother is the wild side of it.  The blazer’s strong structure is more inspired by my mother (literally and symbolically). Blazers are something that we definitely share, as I have always worn them even at a young age, and in turn, I have grown up seeing her always wear them too. She gave me so many of her blazers when I was younger that the majority of my blazer wardrobe is made of hers. They were her uniform, her second skin and they have become mine.

Tell us more about your collection, “Now That Nobody Is Watching.” Why did you decide to focus exclusively on blazers?

It felt instinctual to create a blazer range as they have been so prevalent and pivotal in my life for so long, I knew this is where I would begin. They have always been in my life in a classical-form, so I wanted to be able to create my own glimmer on it- to recalibrate the memory and bring it closer to me- my own desire interpreted on the tailoring, through color and extravagance.

Colour features prominently in the collection, what is your process for developing the palette?

It's a patchwork process really - a magnetic pull at each stage that takes me to the next stage, then onto the next. For instance, I don't work with an imposed color palette, dictated by trends or seasons, I work with the colors that are at my core. Colour contains certain memories but also it has a power to evoke and determine specific moods and feelings too which I like to tap into. 

I have a deep draw to the color purple, which you will always spot within the collection, and tend to develop all other colors from there, outward, be it the pink or blue hues, all originate from a purple, organically developing to create the palette that is both elegant yet bold.

What was the inspiration behind the YOMI buttons, and why are they so special to the collection?

The buttons hold a strong emotional narrative to me, being so closely tied to my grandmother's personal jewelry collection, which I have seen her wear and that I am wearing myself today, the shapes and designs of them hold a special sentiment to me. They are prominent in the collection for this reason but also they are a respectful nod as to how these women in my past used to dress - where jewelry was so significant to feeling 'dressed,' these buttons take their place. They are a significant part to each blazer, forming the epicenter of the overall design, determining the cut, color and mood of each piece so every blazer has its own individual character. 

Converting these earrings into buttons while keeping the same sense of wonderment and awe of those original pieces was a delicate and complex process though. 

For this first collection we worked with a Canadian founded, Hong Kong based supplier with a long and established history of designing and creating artisanal jewelry pieces for independent brands in the most ethical and sustainable way. Their paralleled brand ethos coupled with an impressive design past meant they were able to understand the intimate history behind each piece and know how imperative it was to reach a certain level of detail and make each piece feel precious.

These buttons retain the history, they hold the heart of the brand. The small but powerful details echoing, “I am here, and I am with you”.

What materials do you use and where do you source them?

When I am choosing a fabric I am always thinking “soft”. I am looking for kisses on the skin. The challenge is for the collections to be sufficiently balanced between light and heavier fabric, as YOMI wants to be a season-less label, a place where you can go all year long no matter where you live and where you are going. The selection of fabrics reflects this versatility and timelessness but also the “lushness” of the brand from faux fur, buttery velvets to lightweight cashmeres. 

Although, the sourcing of the fabrics has been a challenge for us, as we strive to use predominantly recycled, responsible materials wherever possible. We have started to overcome this with some incredible suppliers in Europe that understood our position and have sourced some beautiful recycled materials for us, which you can see in the collection today.

How do you want people who wear your clothes to feel? What's the attitude, the style that YOMI manifests through fabric and silhouette?

I believe for most people, clothing has a transformative pull to shape you, each item ‘owning’ a degree of magic to create its own story, personality or seduction. So I would envision the wearer to be able to feel this when they put on a YOMI piece, that they feel the desire to be bold and fearless when they wear it and they embrace that each piece will make them ‘feel’ something completely unique to them.  

The YOMI feeling has strong parallels to when you are impacted deeply by a story in a book. The characters imprint on you and almost walk alongside you the next day, like a strong dream that leaves an echo of impact on your waking life. It's real, yet you know it's not but feels even briefly so tangible. Real life can feel restrictive, but in this in-between space you can direct, erase, re-write the pages to live out, and YOMI dresses those internal moments and produces the desired feelings to do it. The “ wearer” would be somebody who can connect and resonate to that. 

Do you have any exciting new collections or projects underway? Tell us more!

The next chapter for YOMI will see some new colours, fabrics and shapes but also the imagery that we can create around it, the story in which we set the scene for these pieces to be played out in - a new part of the YOMI universe that we can explore and share. Each collection is a new opportunity to share this - the ‘Voyage,” of the woman that will wear it. With the fist collection we have presented the grace and elegance of the YOMI woman. In this next chapter we are addressing her wildness and sensuality.