Tuchinda caught my attention at the last Playtime New York. Tina and Jay, the lovely couple who co-founded the brand, are as charming and delicate as their collection. Great decor, beautiful images, delicious printed dresses and tops : everything is made with great attention to details. Who are you, Tuchinda?
Where are you from and where do you live?
Tina was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to the US when she was 4 years old. We met in Washington DC and after living in DC, Virginia, and New York together, we decided to move to New Jersey in hopes of raising a family. Tuchinda Design LLC is based in New York, NY.
Are you parents?
We are exhausted parents to a very naughty 16 month old son, Hunter. He is our biggest joy in life and one of driving reasons why we started the Tuchinda brand. We would love to have another child if possible.
What is your professional background?
Tina worked in public relations and product development before making a career change into fashion design. She graduated later with a fashion design degree in womenswear from Parsons and interned at Calvin Klein Collection, Luca Luca, Kenneth Cole, and S-Sung before starting her own brand.
What’s the story of Tuchinda, how did the idea come to you, how did it go from an idea to reality?
Tina graduated from Parsons wanting to start her own womenswear collection but once she became pregnant, she decided to take time off and focus on being a stay-at-home mother. While trying to dress our son, we became frustrated that there wasn’t enough children’s wear options that we liked. We like clothes that have the Milanese “sophistication” the Parisian “chic” and the Japanese “cool.” While our son slept at night, Tina made clothes for our son and this soon led her to making clothes for his playmates. All of the children in our lookbook are Hunter’s friends. What started out as a way to remain creative as a stay-at-home mother quickly became a passion as Tina realized what she learned in womenswear could also be offered in children’s wear. More importantly, we wanted to inspire our son to always be a creative, out-of-the box thinker, and an entrepreneur. What a better way to inspire, as parents, than to lead through example and dress our son at the same time!
Florence Rolando
Launched in London in early 2009 by Florence Rolando (journalist, co-founder of Bubble Trade Shows) Pirouette Blog has been a reference in the industry since 2009 with its combined business and consumer view of the children’s market. A fantastic resource for children’s fashion, design, trends and culture, it aims to support creativity and talent but it also does this by talking about life, family, culture and health.
Florence is an international leader in the industry (8 years as a Milk Collaborator, contributor to Naif Magazine in Spain, co-founder of Bubble Trade Shows in New York and London).
Now Florence runs Energy Therapy Porto @enrgy_therapy_porto
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