Idun had the pleasure to interview NYC-based designer and founder, Szeki Chan. 7115 By Szeki’s collections incorporate the perfect balance of quality, attainability, and aesthetic. Szeki’s own background, passion, and aesthetic is what makes 7115 so special. We hope you enjoy getting to know the designer behind one of our favorite brands on Selby Ave.

What is your background? Is it specifically in fashion design?
It isn't actually! Apparel design was never the initial plan. My background is in design and technology. That's what I studied in college. I think that definitely influences why I approach apparel design with such a problem-solving mentality. All my decisions are made from a utilitarian angle but that's what I love most about 7115.

What people/places/things do you find yourself consistently going back to for inspiration?
I would have to say the city of New York is my biggest inspiration. It's where we're based. It's where I live. As much as I love complaining about it (like every other New Yorker) I'm constantly inspired and learning from the city itself. The way of life here has always dictated the designs of our garments - the pace, the diversity, the kindness of complete strangers, the community I live in...everything. I've met so many unique and interesting characters who have walked through the 7115 doors over the years. They've become my source of inspiration. These are the people who I want to help. My inspiration has always been the idea of answering that question of how to make life easier for people in New York. Over the years that's evolved to: how do we make life easier for people everywhere?

How much do you think about your audience or "customer" during the design process? 
They are all I think about. I think about how the pieces are going to work for the customer, which gap we'll need to fill in their wardrobe, what their reasoning behind every purchase might be. These are the questions I constantly ask myself throughout the design process.

If you weren't a designer -- what other occupation could you see yourself in?
I would love to open a soup kitchen! Or go back to being a singer - that would've been sweet too.

Where is your favorite place to pass the time, or take a break? 
There's a park on Hester Street in Chinatown that I love to visit. It's almost become a weekly ritual now for me to grab a bagel and head there to watch the Sunday amateur volleyball match.

> See the 7115 By Szeki Collection at Idun right here. 

PROVOKE

verb

To stir up purposely; provide a needed stimulus

/ CECILIA POUPON / “Throughout her work, lighting seems harsh yet soft, as the colours are washed out and the white features become more apparent.” PITCH - PRESENT.

/ A Mesmerizing Marathon of Robert Frank's Movies / “They are jagged and elliptical. They subvert precepts of genre, story, and technique.” The New Yorker.

/ On Beauty: Parsifal / “The expressive power of the music is extraordinary, viscerally conveying pathos, decay, melancholy, and doom, but then rising to heights of shimmering celestial bliss, a kind of crystalline perfection for which we have come to long during endless passages of terrible ambiguity.” Aesop: The Fabulist.

/ 6 Wild Beauty Looks Inspired By Music / “Looks inspired by the way David Bowie used makeup and beauty to express his style.” The Cut.

/ Penguin's Modern Poet Series / “Exciting poetry capable of speaking deeply to, challenging, and exciting its readers is being written on a staggering scale.” Electric Literature.

PROVOKE

verb

To stir up purposely; provide a needed stimulus

/ Barozzi/Veiga Designed An Extension For Bündner Kuntsmuseum in Switzerland / “Here, the design strips away everything that is not structure, construction, and programmatic division, all united in a single whole.” This Is Paper.

/ Director of Helvetica Making Dieter Rams Doc / “If I see a situation I question it,” he says. “Not in a bad way, but in a curious way.” Wired.

/ Muslim Songstress Yuna Talks Breakups and Usher Collabs / “When you focus on something getting better in your life, you forget about everything else that was bringing you down.” Milk.

/ Earth Angel / “Shechet’s installation is a balancing act of respectful and radical.” The New Yorker.

/ Exploring the Concept of Beauty and its Fashion History / “Contemporary fashion and “anti-fashion” continues to challenge beauty standards and dissemble established notions of taste; but does this inevitably mean establishing new ones?” AnOtherMag.

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