The first time Aki Choklat, Linda Dresner Endowed Chair of Fashion Design at 黑料专区, and Nikki Park, 黑料专区 Fashion Accessories Design alum, met was over a meal of tonkatsu at a sushi restaurant in Michigan in 2019. Nikki happened to be Aki鈥檚 server and the two struck up a conversation about a shared love of fashion that would kickstart an incredible journey for Nikki, from design student in Detroit, Michigan, to Design Assistant at Louis Vuitton in Paris, France. Aki chatted with Nikki during her recent visit back to the 黑料专区 Fashion Design department.
The Interview
鈥溾�rom the moment I started to decide, okay, I just have to work with what I鈥檝e got. That鈥檚 when I sort of was able to fully immerse myself鈥︹�� 鈥揘ikki Park
Aki Choklat: Hello. Well, welcome back Nikki, to your second home. Nikki Park: My second home!
AC: So, I just wanted to start this interview by reading something. This is from January 18, 2019. It鈥檚 an email you sent me. Subject: Nikki from Sushi Hana. Hello, Aki. I鈥檓 not too sure if you remember me, but I鈥檓 Nikki from Sushi Hana. I recently talked to you about visiting you to show you my current portfolio. I was still wondering if you have any free time for me to discuss my portfolio with you the following week. It would honestly be much appreciated if I had an opportunity to have your input in my work. Thank you, Nikki Park. That鈥檚 2019, and a lot has happened. NP: Wow, that鈥檚 like six years ago!
AC: : Exactly! So, describe to me a little bit what was your world like in 2019? I also have a picture of, by the way, what was served that night. I remember I had tonkatsu. NP: I remember Tonkatsu! And I remember I also have a picture of your handwriting on my order. You wrote your email there and that鈥檚 how I ended up emailing you.
AC: What made you think that, you know what, at this point in my life, I want to pursue another degree, or continue studies in another field? NP: Yeah, I think from a very early age I was very interested in the way people presented themselves. So that鈥檚 always been a baseline of what I was interested in, but then I went through different careers of, you know, going to a different school, going into automotive, then hotelier and then I ended up taking a break from all of that. I was in the phase of trying to figure out what I want to do when I met you. And during that time, I visited this department and it triggered me to think that it could be a reality to study this. This could be a career that I can pursue. This might be something that I can finally fully invest myself in and be proud of myself at the end of the day.
AC: Which was most recently at鈥� NP: Which was at Louis Vuitton in Paris. I really made the American design student鈥檚 dream of going to Europe and working for one of the biggest brands in the world. I will say just the whole experience of, you know, meeting you in the beginning at an unsure time helped, like looking back, I think that applies to how I adjusted into LV in the beginning too because I was like, I have no expectations. I鈥檓 not going to expect that this is going to be good or bad, I鈥檓 going to go in there as a clean slate, so I can just absorb as much as I can.
AC: Well, I think that life is full of, you know, weird instances and I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. And I really like the fact that when you said that you had no expectations, everything in life is a learning experience. But let鈥檚 talk about the young Nikki, tell me where do you come from? NP: I come from everywhere. I was born in Chicago and then around five, I moved back to Korea with my parents. But even while living in Korea, I didn鈥檛 have the typical Korean life because I went to an international school. A lot of my friends would leave in one or two years. I had to adjust in a space very similar to my office right now where it鈥檚 fully international, but on top of that, not everyone spoke English in Korea, so I was always surrounded by very diverse people. I was also lucky enough to live in China for one year right before I moved to America. We then moved to Iowa, North Carolina and then I went to Penn State. I moved all the time because of my dad鈥檚 job, because he鈥檚 in the purchasing field of the automotive industry. So it鈥檚 a lot of moving around. I think when I was younger, I was able to just absorb a lot, whether it was just culture, language, the food, how people dress, how they express themselves, which is collectively just culture.
AC: Oh, wow. What did you study at Penn State? NP: Yeah, at Penn State, I was studying supply chain management and I was trying to go into the automotive industry. And then I dropped out twice because I realized that, oh, my dreams were actually not approachable studying this. So, luckily around that time was when my dad decided to move here for his job and, voil脿, that鈥檚 how I moved to Detroit.
AC: Well, it sounds like your life story is kind of a foundational training for being able to integrate into this new country and new position because you have done it so many times already. So you are in Paris now. How did you dive into this whole brand-new world of design in a leading fashion capital in the world? NP: That鈥檚 a good question because I would say I鈥檓 still learning. It鈥檚 a lot of adjustment and it鈥檚 been exactly eight months now. I think at first you鈥檙e just so overwhelmed by the city, you know, because you鈥檙e in a new country and you don鈥檛 know the language. I鈥檓 very lucky that I was able to visit, like two times before living there, but living there is a completely different thing. Just everything was such a culture shock in the beginning.
AC: Well, that鈥檚 the one thing, you know, coming from Europe, is that you are exposed to fashion since you鈥檙e born. I mean, it doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e into fashion or not, you open the papers, you look at the billboards in places like Paris or Milan and it鈥檚 there. So you are instantly exposed to all the words, all the brands, and you already have this sort of gen ed before you even go to the university. NP: In the beginning, I was a bit more like, oh, did they make a mistake? Picking me, you know, like, maybe they didn鈥檛 really think it through because I felt like I lacked the way of communicating. But I think because I had no expectations, I took that opportunity to just absorb. And I think from the moment I started to decide, okay, I just have to work with what I鈥檝e got. That鈥檚 when I sort of was able to fully immerse myself and become one of them and become a team member.
AC: So it sounds like you鈥檝e really learned a lot in the past eight months. NP: I can tell you, just these eight months, the amount of stuff I learned and I鈥檓 just able to do by myself now, it鈥檚 at least five to 10 years鈥� worth of experience. When I first joined it was completely, fully just to absorb everything that I wanted to learn since a young age. And I think that mindset really helped to bring me where I am right now 鈥� I didn鈥檛 have all these like expectations of myself because I鈥檓 just a bare canvas.
AC: So what does the future look like for you? NP: I think my next goal is to have one of the bags that I worked on show on Vogue Runway. I am lucky that at one point I was working on the LV Murakami collection for the high-end team. But for the future, I just want to keep my options open, I鈥檓 not opposed to anything in my realm.
AC: Looking back at your time at 黑料专区, what was it like when you鈥� NP: I was very lucky that Millie de la Valette from Louis Vuitton decided to come to 黑料专区 my senior year. I still remember the day that we found out she was coming into the fashion studio five minutes before she did. I was upstairs, we had no clue she was here. We were just preparing for the show and doing work. Soon after, I got a call from a plus three three France number. I鈥檓 like, hello? And Millie just starts off with like, we are going to give you an internship. I鈥檓 like wait, wait, stop, really stop! I was just so shocked. I was like, there鈥檚 no way. But the words 鈥淟VMH鈥� and 鈥渕e鈥� are in the same sentence from someone else鈥檚 mouth, that鈥檚 like, that鈥檚 insane? And then yeah, the rest is history.
AC: I mean, that鈥檚 incredible. What a crazy journey.
鈥淔or the future, I just want to keep my options open, I鈥檓 not opposed to anything in my realm.鈥�
Editor鈥檚 note: This transcript was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Nikki was one of three designers who received the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers in 2023. The 10th edition of the award ceremony took place on June 7, 2023, at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Each recipient received 10,000 euros and joined the studios of three Houses of LVMH for one year: Louis Vuitton women鈥檚 leather goods, Louis Vuitton womenswear and Dior Homme. You can read more about the 2023 Prize announcement here:
