{"id":215,"date":"2026-11-05T04:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T01:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/?p=215"},"modified":"2026-11-05T04:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T01:43:15","slug":"ashlynn-park-on-ashlyn-sustainability-and-the-art-of-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/?p=215","title":{"rendered":"Ashlynn Park on Ashlyn, Sustainability and the Art of Design"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tAshlynn Park was nervous. At least that\u2019s what WWD style director Alex Badia told the audience at the WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit as he introduced the designer for a conversation about her New York-based label, Ashlyn. <\/p>\n

\n\tShe needn\u2019t have been. Once the discussion turned to patternmaking, construction and the relationship between clothing and the body, Park was firmly in her element.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere is plenty for the designer to feel confident about. In 2025, Park won both the CFDA American Emerging Designer of the Year award and the CFDA\/Vogue Fashion Fund, a rare double distinction that cemented her position among the most closely watched names in American fashion. She was also a finalist for the LVMH Prize in 2022. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut accolades tell only part of the story.<\/p>\n

\n\tPark traced her fashion sensibility to her childhood in Seoul, where her parents taught her that clothing could communicate identity through the smallest details. \u201cWhen I was in high school, I needed to wear a uniform, and there were very strict rules about my hair,\u201d she recalled. \u201cSo I tried to find the small details of how I could express myself,\u201d including touches of baby pink beneath her uniform.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ashlynn<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

\n

\t\t\t\t\tAshlynn Park at the 2026 WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit held at Cipriani South Street on Oct. 27 in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAllie Joseph<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cTo me, it\u2019s not just about the clothing. Even my facial expression finishes my outfit, and that becomes my signature.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThat belief in the expressive possibilities of clothing would eventually take her to Tokyo and then New York, with formative experiences working for Yohji Yamamoto and Raf Simons during his tenure at Calvin Klein.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWorking for Yohji Yamamoto was my big dream,\u201d Park said. \u201cThere, I learned how patternmaking, construction and tailoring come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also discovered the \u201cpower\u201d of a pattern archive, a system that allowed designers to revisit existing shapes while developing new ideas. \u201cThe pattern archive already set his tone and philosophy,\u201d she said of her time at Yamamoto. \u201cThe new designer could just grab the pattern and keep producing a new design. It was an amazing system, and eventually I took the system into my studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tToday that approach underpins Ashlyn, which she launched in 2020.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m a designer who thinks through making as a patternmaker,\u201d she explained. \u201cPatternmaking is not the way of executing my idea. It\u2019s the way of creating my design.\u201d Her studio has developed some 800 design blocks, allowing her team to create new silhouettes while maintaining a cohesive design vocabulary.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe results are evident in her sculptural tailoring, controlled volumes and architectural shapes that retain a sense of fluidity and lightness.<\/p>\n

\n\tYet Park\u2019s technical precision is balanced by an emotional approach to design.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m trying to leave space for the wearer because it\u2019s part of them,\u201d she said. \u201cClothing exists between the creator and the wearer. If we start to take over more, then it\u2019s going to be my own expression, not their clothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWearability is equally important. Park recalled shopping with her mother, who dislikes heavy clothing and insists that garments feel light and comfortable, a preference that has informed her own designs.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat pragmatism also extends to sustainability, which Park considers integral to the creative process rather than a separate exercise. \u201cTo me, creativity is very similar to problem solving,\u201d she said. \u201cDealing with limitations is part of running a small business. So I questioned how I could turn those limitations into a sustainable design approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHer puzzle designs, for example, begin with limited square pieces of fabric, cut and reassembled into three-dimensional forms.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe just use limited squares, and we chop them and reconnect them to make a three-dimensional shape,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

\n\tSuch resourcefulness has become a defining characteristic of Ashlyn, where creative experimentation and commercial considerations are closely intertwined.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI see creativity and business together. They\u2019re very connected,\u201d she said. Park cited sell-through rates at retailers of her collections of about 70 to 90 percent, suggesting that her distinctive aesthetic is resonating with customers.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen she launched during the pandemic, however, building a fashion business wasn\u2019t necessarily the objective. \u201cThere was no big dream to make a huge brand,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI was very happy to work for other designers, and one day I started thinking, \u2018Can I become one of the great designers in history?\u2019 And that slowly became my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ashlynn<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

\n

\t\t\t\t\tAshlynn Park at the 2026 WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit held at Cipriani South Street on Oct. 27 in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaria Wurtz<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tSix years later, Park is focused on pushing the boundaries of the design language she has established. But her ambitions extend beyond the clothes themselves.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI hope people can understand that feeling, very personal, and hope that clothing brings them good luck and leaves with them with a good memory,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashlynn Park was nervous. At least that\u2019s what WWD style director Alex Badia told the audience at the WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit as he introduced the designer for a conversation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}