Where did your inspiration come from?
The collection is my own personal tribute to the San Francisco Bay Area, which is where I was born and raised. So each item is named after a place that is connected to that item of clothing from my memories of growing up there. (If you read the catalog you’ll see what I’m talking about)
Is clothing design something you want to explore more in the future? Is starting your own brand something you’ve contemplated doing?
I had a lot of fun working with Brian on this project but I really haven’t thought about creating my own label just yet. I guess if there is positive feedback from this line then we’ll consider doing another collection in the future but nothing set in stone yet.
What sort of messages were you trying to express through this collection?
I wanted to make this collection more subdued and subtle as opposed to following some trends out there that are wild and loud. SF, whether it’s the people, the clothes they wear or the lifestyles they lead, tend to be a lot less flashy and gaudy than in places like NY or LA. So I went with the “less is more” motto and decided to go for a more simple design that is well made and a style that is more about longevity than following any kind of trend. I also wanted to make them as versatile as possible, meaning you could wear them to church but then cut out early to skate in them without looking like a dork at the mini ramp.
With a background in architecture, how does clothing design differ from architecture work?
The main difference between clothing and architecture is the time it takes to see the finished product. In architecture, there are so many other tiny little details you have to manage and the construction process takes a lot longer to get through. You could be working on the same project for a couple of years before you even break ground. With clothing, you pretty know what the final product is going to be like with the first sample. In terms of the design process however, it’s very similar. We started by thinking up a concept and once we had that, we just built from there.
Know1edge Website
Daniel Wu Website
Interview: Eugene Kan
Photography: Dan Pak
