Meet BHON!
Meet BHON!
BHON was established in 2010 by sisters Patty and Christine Yoon. Taking elements from Patty’s background in fashion design, Christine’s in architecture and engineering, and most importantly, from their childhoods surrounded by the apparel industry, BHON’s designs employs structural composition, modern silhouettes, and uncommon detailing in a modern, yet accessible and versatile collection.
BHON has been featured on Elle.com, Daily Candy, NBC’s The Feast, and Dirty Magazine. BHON’s designs have appeared in Nylon, Nu-Mode, and One Magazine, and can be found at boutiques like End of Century and Albertine (NYC), Redeem (DC), and Dog and Pony (Austin).
We’re really looking forward to meeting the lovely ladies of BHON when we’re back in New York this fall!
As part of the first month anniversary of The Designer Lookbook, BHON has given us one of their fabulous Tension Scarfs to raffle off to a lucky subscriber! In order to win you must “Like” The Designer Lookbook page on Facebook and subscribe to The Designer Lookbook newsletter. The winner will be announced next week. Tell all your friends and Good Luck!
What is the concept behind your latest collection? What were your inspirations for this collection?
For Spring 2012, we were inspired by Louise Bourgeois’ incredible sculptures and two-tone drawings, particularly the famous maman spider, the woven child, and her insomnia drawings. Her work has the ability to appear both hard and fixed, while also portraying fluidity and emotion. For the collection, we knew from the outset that we wanted to incorporate a strong print that was reminiscent of this dynamic, so once we found the print, it helped drive the design of the entire group.
What has been the response to your latest collection?
We’ve received a really positive response to Spring 2012, from both people who are familiar with our previous seasons as well as new audiences. Moving to more luxurious fabrics and more feminine shapes has overall been key to this collection, and for us, this collection was a huge stepping stone in defining where we wanted to go with the line.
What are your goals for your brand this year? What are your long term goals for your brand?
For 2012, we have the commercial goals of gaining more presence in boutiques throughout the US, and ideally, overseas. Meanwhile, we are actively working on refining the direction of the collections and the brand, and learning more about ourselves as business owners. The idea was to create a label that designs clothing that we want to wear, but that has proven to be a moving target, since we are dynamic and growing people in our own right. The long term goal is to continue designing and producing clothing that we are proud of, and that continues to push the envelope of contemporary womenswear. It goes without saying that we’d like to do all of this while being able to successfully live off of the business.
What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Patty’s a big crafter. She’s got tons of craft projects ongoing, including hand-looping an area rug and making dream catchers. Christine likes to spend time in the kitchen both eating and cooking, and read a good novel from time to time. And we both share a ridiculous passion for karaoke.
Where do you work?
Out of our loft apartment in Greenpoint. Sometimes unfortunate for our third roommate . . . As I write this, all horizontal workspace is covered in receipts, purchase orders, hang tags, poly bags, and safety pins.
What advice would you give to designers just starting out?
Be prepared to spend way more money than you thought you would, and way more time than you thought you had.
Click here to check out BHON’s designer profile, lookbook and collection on The Designer Lookbook.