To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting
- e.e. cummings
Aye Hasegawa models pieces from the Fall/Winter collection, entitled The Wanderer
Photography by Simia Rassouli
It is simple: You are who you are. If you cannot explain yourself to a child, then you do not understand yourself, which means that you have constantly complicated your life and confused yourself because you have listened to what others have told you instead of listening to your own inner self. You know that the right thoughts and the right words are simple: They are raw and elegant. You use common words to say uncommon things. Those words have force. Your presence is forceful. Life is very simple, but it is YOUR choice to live it simply or to complicate it.
From the day you were born, excessive ideas and beliefs were thrown at you without you ever being aware of them or maybe ever wanting them. As you grew physically, you also grew to learn that those ideas and beliefs were not really yours, that you wanted to be independent. Through this battle with the outside world and yourself, you stop and find what has always been there, your very self. Through this entire journey, it seems as though you have been wandering aimlessly, with no intent of believing there is something less than the idea of breathing, the idea of being yourself. There is an inner power, so just breathe, and keep moving. Sometimes all you can do is to breathe, all you have left is to breathe. Through every discomfort in your life, through the mistakes, through your own pain, you realize that nothing in life is ever easy, until you realize that you yourself have the greatest power, the greatest idea of what pain can mean. As simple or romantic as that may sound, you are able to be free when you believe in yourself.
a u g h. is a street brand. Street meaning everything, but it also means just one simple thing: It is you. Street is you. No matter how many times your family or friends or people in your life tell you certain things about who you are, that becomes like an unwanted object in your mind. Even if it sounds great. Even if they tell you you are an amazing artist or dancer…no, that is not true. YOU have to believe in yourself, YOU have to believe that every action you are able to make helps you breath easily.
a u g h . is a brand that doesn’t embody or personify a human. It’s an add-on to what is already there, which is the person. As of now, many trends have been set and are in play, and there seems to be an unconscious thought behind them. The thought that presents itself of a person being the “best”, which is not the case, as easy as it may sound, but “you” are the best. Every pound and every thought that is processed whether it be a follower or a trendsetter, is your aura. Clothes are nothing more than a bonus or a benefit toward who you are, and who you are is always right in front of you.
Founder/Richmond Parakhen / Fine Art
Co-Founder/Elyn Kazarian/ Illustration
For the video:
Director: Joshua Kang Director of Photography: Edward Tran Assistant Camera: Chris Campbell
Gaffer: Ai Dang
