BODY POSITIVITY: Interview with Doyeon Yoni Yu, founder of C’EST D

Doyeon Yoni Yu was born and raised in South Korea before she moved to New York. She was graduated from Parsons School of Design, Fashion Design. After her graduation she had more internship collaborations withUniversal Standard,Zac Posen, 3.1Phillip Lim and more.An Interview with Doyeon Yoni Yu, the young designer who support body positivity

Now she launched her own label CEST D by DOYEON YONI YU, supporting body positivity and size inclusivity. Shes bringing those into her designs and unapologetically designing fashion for all types of bodies. Her creations are to truly celebrate body equality and liberate us all from this fat phobic society.

Why did you decide to become a fashion designer?

I was studying completely different field before I came to New York. I was majoring in China Studies in Korea. Spending 3 years studying it, then I started to question myself: Am I happy? Is this really what I want? At that moment, I realized that I needed big change. Ive been always creating things in my whole life. I paint, I sew, and I make. And I really wanted to continue doing those my entire life! This is when I first realized that I wanted to become a fashion designer.

What drives your passion for plus-size women in fashion design?

2.1 billion people in this world, 30% of world population, are overweight. In this country itself, 67% are beyond size 14, however, our society is fat phobic and discriminates people by their size. I, myself, am considered as plus size. When I was younger, my classmates always made fun of my weights and my body. When I was grown up, people constantly forced me to lose weights even my parents. I couldnt shop anywhere else because nowhere carries my size. Until recent, I didnt even think about how unfair this is. Ive accepted the fact that my size and my body is wrong for this world. However, since I started my brand, I totally changed my mind. No matter what body/size we have, we have every right to shop wherever we want and appreciate good designs. This is why I decided to be a size inclusive fashion designer.

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