Having infected the world over with her neo-trance techno remixes and addictive singles Starry Night and It Makes You Forget (Itgehane), South Korean DJ Peggy Gou now brings her producing acumen to the world of fashion with the launch of her new brand, Kirin. This year, Kirin by Peggy Gou joins the ranks of the New Guards Group, the Milan-based conglomerate articulating itself in the designer field with street-centric heavyweights such as Virgil Abloh’s Off-White. But Kirin’s debut collection, which launched at Lane Crawford Hong Kong, is not Gou’s first foray into the fashion world. Having previously dipped her toe into editorial and styling work, the music idol’s rise to style-icon status took shape behind the decks through her travels from Incheon and East London to Berlin and beyond for her live DJ performances.
“I came from a fashion background and moved to a music background, and now I’m going back to fashion,” Peggy explained at her Kirin launch. “But if you have to ask me if music or fashion came first, I feel like fashion is already in here,” she points to her chest. “I think fashion is something that can’t be taught — you either have it or you don’t.”
Indeed, Kirin’s appeal is that it’s providing exactly the type of clothing that you would see Peggy Gou wear herself: bold prints in eye-grabbing colours and loose-fitting silhouettes that grant a just-threw-this-on ease. “I like baggy clothes and I like shirts that are more menswear in cut so I think most of the collection’s fit is like the clothes I wear.” And though branding standards may require otherwise, Kirin is decidedly unisex. “We’re in the 21st century where nobody really cares about this,” Gou says in response to topic of womenswear versus menswear. “I mean, the gender label of clothing shouldn’t be an issue anymore. A lot of people ask if Kirin will come out with a menswear line and I’m like, ‘if this shirt comes in XL, that’s a men’s shirt.’”
The collection’s motifs begin with the brand name Kirin, based on the Korean word for giraffe, which is Gou’s favourite animal and makeshift mascot. “I’m a very hyper person and giraffes are very peaceful animals that don’t harm or eat anything alive. I call them my spirit animal to remind myself to calm down and I just love how they look with the long neck and the purple tongue and the little horns that are so cute. Actually, naming was difficult because they were like ‘you definitely can’t do beer because there’s already Kirin beer,’” Gou noted in a humorous aside. “And I was like, ‘I definitely don’t think I’ll be doing beer.”
What you will find in the Kirin collection is a collage of Gou’s favourite visuals and things. “It’s the first collection so inspiration came from everywhere. The little safety card came from the plane because I’m always flying. The smiley face came from the acid logo because I love acid music. The haetae graphic came from the Korean mythical animal to represent my country. I was reading this book and I was like ‘wait a minute, I love this animal and I don’t think anyone has used it yet.’ And if you look at the Kirin label, you’ll notice that the KR is separate, and that’s secretly representing Korea, too. So I guess this collection is really about what I like and my personality.”
Versatility was another requirement for Gou. “My luggage is like four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter. This is why I’m obsessed with printed two-pieces because it’s effortless and I feel like I don’t have to do anything else or wear too much makeup to look cool.” She then points to another piece, “my favourite is this Jacquard fabric that I discovered in Italy. You can’t get this fabric produced in Korea, or Asia. I love it, it feels so nice and it stands out and I like to wear it to festivals.”
But ever the perfectionist, Gou remains humble about her debut. “This is my first collection so I’m still learning. I said to the New Guards group ‘ugh, I could have done better’ and they said that’s how it should be, that you should never be satisfied with your first collection so you can do better next time. So next season, I will narrow it down a little bit to have a rave theme. I think it’s good to have a theme.”
Peggy Gou at her Kirin launch at Lane Crawford Hong Kong
Photo: Kelly Chan
“Even though music and fashion have a connection, it’s not easy to compare the two because I don’t see composing music and making clothes as the same process. The one thing they do have in common is that I need to do a lot of research for both — I need to listen to a lot of music to get inspiration for mixing and, similarly, to think about patterns, I need to do a lot of visual research.” As for how her audio aesthetic translates to visual design, “I can only say they both come from one person,” Gou notes, “and if it comes from one person, it’s about taste.”
As a matter of fact, Gou has sights on expanding her Kirin brand to other categories. “I don’t want this to just be clothing. I did say to [The New Guards Group] that I want to do home. I’m very into furniture and interiors these days. Maybe I’ll even start with candles or objects.” And not far down the pipeline “there might be my beauty product line coming,” Gou reveals. “It’s something that I was always interested in and I was like ‘why not?’ I’ve always been into beauty products, natural skincare, I love face masks, eye creams. I’m always telling my friends you must wear cream at night and eye cream since you’re 17. I’m obsessed with these things.”
Editor
Joanna FuCredit
Header Image: Kelly Chan
