DESIGNER FEATURE / GUMI: THE DOUBLE-EPONYMOUS LABEL BY TWO BEST FRIENDS (PHOTOGENICS MODEL, MINJI MONEY & GURINA CHAE OF BADFORM STUDIO)
December 1, 2023 | words by MELANIE DEJESUS | “GUMI” debut collection photographed by JOE PERRII
When we heard the news that our girl, Minji Money, and her best friend Gurina Chae, were starting up a new clothing label, I immediately knew I had to jump to find out more about this project.
There’s something very special about the energy surrounding this community Minji and her friends have cultivated…sharing together, creating together, collaborating, lifting each other up, and supporting each other’s ambitions. These are girls with places to go, people to see, and shit to do. It totally makes sense that they would come together to birth something that reflected this type of energy. Enter: GUMI…and well, me – jumping in to try and get a glimpse into their world. So, without further ado, here’s a little Q&A I had with the owners about their path towards GUMI.
P: First of all, could you both introduce yourselves and your connection? How did you meet?
G +M: Hi! Gurina and Minji here. Best friends, sisters, and newfound business partners.
M: We met back in 2013, when I was still based in Utah, we were friends on instagram. I had asked Gurina some tips about her blonde hair because I was making that journey. As fate had it, we ran into each other at The Grove, out here in LA – like the start of so many LA Love stories. We met for coffee the next day in Koreatown and ended up having a 36 hour sleepover and have been inseparable since then.
G: Truly love at first sight. 10 years later we’ve lived together in a few different homes and have more memories that I can even put into words. At this point even my dad calls her his daughter.
P: GUMI’s first ever collection launches today with a private launch party to celebrate your achievement (location is under wraps, of course ). Give us the rundown. What can we expect to see tonight from your first collection as a design duo?
G: This first collection was designed with our lifestyles in mind. Think: feminine, sporty – understated and absolutely essential. It was important to us that despite our different styles, we can have every piece in both our closets. Gumi is truly a lifestyle brand and the fabrics are chosen with this in mind. Moisture wicking, wrinkle resistant, and versatile. Designed to be closet staples and easily adaptable.
M: We’re already planning our next collection and can’t wait to realize all of our ideas. We have such a large community of friends and people that we admire that we want to collaborate with so planning the future stages of GUMI always feels really exciting.
"The GUMI girl is inspired by our sisters and friends. She works 24/7 and needs her clothes to keep up."-GC
P: We’d love to know about the origin story of GUMI. What inspired the name GUMI, and was there a wild epiphany between the two of you on a random night or has this idea been brewing for a while now?
G: One night we were chatting and realized that we both wanted another outlet for all these ideas that had been ruminating beneath the surface. Thus, GUMI was born.
M: We went back and forth with names, which was pretty fun but also drove us mad. Eventually we landed on GUMI the first 2 letters of our names. GU-rina + MI-nji. Which ended up feeling perfect. We love to say it. GUMI GUMI GUMI.
G: Yeah, ultimately we realized that we had been thinking too hard and went back to the basics. In the same way, we spent weeks working on the logo with graphic designers and, of course, ended up moving forward with the first design.
P: Who are you designing for? What’s she like? What’s her story? Who is the GUMI GIRL?
M: GUMI is for every girl on the go. Someone who’s constantly moving and needs their clothes to move with her. Easy for layering, styling, and personalizing. We want to feel effortless, uncomplicated, and relatable. For someone who wants to feel stylish while also being ready to take on whatever the day brings.
G: The GUMI girl is inspired by our sisters and friends. She works 24/7 and needs her clothes to keep up. She can go straight from set to hot yoga or in my case, from the studio to ping pong.
"My clients grant me a lot of trust, often handing me a sketch and letting me run with it, and I love to do it."-GC
P: Gurina, I’ve been kind of stalking Bad Form Studio on IG and I have to say, I’m very intrigued because even though it’s clear that it operates as a product development and apparel production MFG company, there’s still a degree of enigma there and not a ton of info on the website. It almost feels like more of a creative collective. Can you tell us a bit more about Bad Form and the concept behind it, who’s involved, and the kind of work you do?
G: So funny, I hear this a lot. No one knows what I do, and I sort of love it. I really respect my clients’ privacy so I stay low key about the projects I work on, not to mention the NDAs. I was just telling Minji how funny it was that you follow my studio finsta, since it’s private and you’re probably one of 20 followers. Bad Form Studio is a full package production studio specializing in product development. I work within the fashion, music/entertainment, and fabrication industries. We’ve been open for three years and I meet all of my clients through friends and word of mouth. It’s somewhat of a fluke, a little bit of luck, and a lot of hard work that brings me the opportunities to work with the bigger names that have come my way. I thrive on challenges and chaos. My clients grant me a lot of trust, often handing me a sketch and letting me run with it, and I love to do it.
P: Minji, you’ve been a part of the PHOTOGENICS World for a while now as a model. Can you tell us how it feels to extend your career into the “client-side” of things after being in front of the camera for many years?
M: It’s the best feeling. I feel aligned with what I’m supposed to be doing. I love the industry I’m in so it’s always exciting to get behind all aspects of the development. I’ve worn a lot of hats since I’ve moved to LA and learned a lot about myself, in and out of my field. Oftentimes modeling has felt somewhat like an internship to gleam light on all the other aspects of this industry that I wasn’t aware of before I started. There is a full circle effect now from coalescing all my experience and connections into what I do now. I feel incredibly blessed to call this work. The best and most surreal part is being able to do this with my best friend while constantly growing and making memories.
P: Clients have always taken to you and continue to book you on a regular. You clearly have something really special, and you definitely know your angles, but we also think that it 100% has to do with how down to earth and kind you are. I think clients just love having you around. How do you think your experiences on set and the fond relationships you have with your clients and their teams will inform the way you form relationships with models you book to shoot future GUMI collections? Looks vs Personality….
M: Wow, so sweet! Thank you so much, that’s the best compliment. The best part of the job is undoubtedly being able to meet such talented artists and creatives. Creating those kinds of connections often result in deep friendships, where everyone feels like family. And that extends to our GUMI shoots. All of these girls are my sisters and we want them to feel like your family too. Our goal is to make these images feel like you know us, a space that’s intimate and comfortable. As if your best friend just took a photo of you.
P: GUMI in 5 years. GO. (basically, where do you see ourselves)
M: To have a GUMI community and being able to see people on the streets wearing our pieces. Of course we want to keep growing the brand, eventually having a GUMI headquarters where people can come and go; dream collaborations with brands we love and active events. I think this will happen much sooner than 5 years from now, hopefully within one.
G: I haven’t even wrapped my head around the first year yet. Everything has been happening organically and I hope it continues this way. I like to take each day as it comes, with the bigger dream leading our way. Though I do want a shoe collab.
P: In your own words, tell us what being PHOTOGENICS means to you?
M+G: Photogenics means being unapologetically yourself. The #1 Agency. We love you guys!
P: Aww, we love you too! Thanks for taking the time to let us into your world and your process. Congrats on the launch!
For more information and to see the full collection, visit gumi.us and follow their journey on IG @gumi.us
"There is a full circle effect now ... I feel incredibly blessed to call this work." -MM
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