Meet the designer and creative director of ASHLYN, a clothing brand taking a modern look at traditional tailoring

Fashion designer Ashlynn Park (@ashlynnewyork) wants to make “the best clothing that supports your language” through her eponymous brand ASHLYN. On this episode of In The Know: Style Changemakers, Park shares how she reimagines minimalism, traditional tailoring, and personal style through her clothing. 

Style is everything. It’s about yourself. It’s a statement you want to say,” Park tells In The Know. “My brand expresses a confident, modern interpretation of traditional tailoring with a focus on clean silhouettes.” 

Originally from South Korea, Park is no rookie when it comes to working in the fashion industry. After over a decade of working for designers Yohji Yamamoto and Alexander Wang, Park launched her own brand in 2020. 

Park’s extensive experience in the design world has given her a clear vision for her own label. Concerning her design philosophy, the details—both included and omitted—are at the forefront of the process. “I think minimalism is high end,” Park shares, explaining, “It’s how to leave only the good details in the clothing and then eliminate the unnecessary parts.” For instance, one simple loose-waisted shirt dress constructed from a square sheet of fabric can be manipulated to fit the wearer’s personal style and design interpretation. 

For Park, a garment’s attention to detail isn’t reserved just for the silhouette. “I also aim for perfection in quality and fit,” she says before noting that all her patterns are made in-house. “It takes a lot of time [to adjust] the small details, but the creator should know all the details and construction.”

While Park says she gets “inspiration from everywhere,” historical costumes and avant-garde fashion from the ‘90s have especially influenced her design approach. However, the narrative behind a collection is the vanguard for its visual elements. “First, I’m thinking [about] stories. What I want to say to people,” Park explains. 

For the purpose of sharing her story as a mother, Park articulates her parenting journey through the composition of each garment. “I was imagining my kids dragging me and pulling down my shirts,” she says in reference to the thoughtfully disheveled features on clothing from her most recent collection.
From what inspires Park, to how she translates that influence through her clothing’s construction, to even how she feels when creating a garment, intention is an omnipresent force in her work as a designer. “I try to be happy whenever I create my pieces because it conveys my feelings to the wearers,” says the designer. “So I try to be happy always.”

More from In The Know:

Listen to the latest episode of our pop culture podcast, We Should Talk: