Hometown heroes
A Fear Factor contestant turned fashion designer? Houston's Hyden Yoo shares hisstory
"We launched our first men’s collection in the fall of 2008, and our firstwomen's collection this past spring," says Hyden. "Now, we’re doing our firstfashion week presentation during New York Fashion Week - so the brand has grownquite a bit."
On Saturday, February 12th, Hyden completed his first New York Fashion WeekPresentation at Milk Studios. “Inspired by the 1950's cultural phenomenon thattook place in England, Hyden Yoo created a collection based on the Edwardianstyle of the time that was popular with the British youth subculture thateventually associated a bit with American rock & roll,” according to an officialpress releasePhoto courtesy of Agentry PR.
While Houston may not be known as a fashion mecca, the city has produced its fair share of well-known designers. Chloe Dao, who won the second season of Project Runway, lives in Houston and works out of a boutique and studio in Rice Village and Cesar Galindo, a Houston native, recently made it to the final rounds of Bravo’s The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection.
But Houston designers aren’t just making a splash in womenswear: Hyden Yoo’s simple and impeccably tailored menswear collection has been well received since it’s 2008 debut. Born and raised in Houston, Hyden moved to New York City to start his eponymous clothing line after winning $50,000 milking a goat with his mouth on Fear Factor.
His first New York Fashion Week presentation last month was based on Edwardian style popular with British youth inspired by American rock 'n' roll in the 1950's. Casual styling, rich colors, and relaxed tailoring were all prominent in both the men’s and women’s collections.
At CultureMap, we love giving recognition to hometown heroes are making big splashes in their respective industries, so we caught up with Hyden via e-mail.
CultureMap: Tell us a little about your background and industry experience – specifically, your connection with Houston and why you decided to become a designer.
Hyden Yoo: I grew up in Houston and studied biology in Chicago. After school, I decided to work in the consulting industry and it totally sucked. It just wasn’t my cup of tea so I thought of start my own clothing line. Houston is definitely not a beacon for fashion, but there are a few of us out there.
CM: Tell us a little bit about the history of the Hyden Yoo brand.
HY: We launched our first men’s collection in the fall of 2008, and our first women's collection this past spring. Now, we’re doing our first fashion week presentation during New York Fashion Week - so the brand has grown quite a bit. And yes, the brand was born from the money that I won from Fear Factor.
CM: How would you describe the style of your designs? What are some of the sources you look to for inspiration?
HY: Our style has a very broad reach. We want to be able to cater to customers who don’t really know much about clothing and those shoppers who know every little detail. For the most part, our style has a little bit of downtown fashion with sprinkles of subtle details that really add value to each piece. For inspiration, we’re all over the place. We find it in the most random places and things. It changes every season.
CM: What about American fashion excites you the most right now? Who are some other designers that you admire?
HY: Same answer everyone gives. It’s Ralph Lauren. His brand is so amazing and far-reaching. Great quality, great fabrics, great washes, and segmented customers through different labels - he has it all and his brand is not slowing down at all.
CM: What are some of your other interests besides fashion and design?
HY: Sports. I love any and every sport. I watch ESPN all the time and play basketball any time I get a chance, which is pretty much never these days. I had to sneak out to play sports growing up because my parents wouldn’t let me play. I had to focus on my studies, but when they let me play tennis in high school, it was awesome.
CM: What do you think sets your brand apart from your competitors?
HY: I’m definitely a fan of my competitors. It’s more of a friendly vibe amongst the fashion community at this level since we all know how hard it is to make it this far. Every designer is a little bit different than the other, but if I can pick one, I’d have to say affordability. Our brand is pretty much 30% to 40% less expensive than our competitors, so it makes it a lot more accessible.
CM: What’s the one 2010 fashion trend that you don’t want to see continued in 2011?
HY: This goes out to all ya'll H-town folks. Ya'll know who you are. Stop wearing tattoo T-shirts and those hideous Ed Hardy tees! It was cool for like 30 seconds about 5 years ago. Let’s put an end to that. Whenever I go out when back in Houston I still see it around.
CM: What can you tell us about your spring/summer 2011 collection?
HY: There’s a little bit of a post-apocalypse vibe going on. Very tron meets blade runner. We used a few vibrant colors for added pop in addition to the dark greys and black. Normally, we’re all about subtle details, but this time we went all out with obvious detailing and stitch work to get our point across.
Looking to pick up some of Hyden’s pieces? A few items from his fall/winter 2010 collection are currently on sale at Mortar. You can also buy pieces from his eponymous line on his website, and items from his diffusion line, Standard Issue, at Urban Outfitters.
