Gia Kuan Consulting (GKC) does communications a little differently. The female-owned, female-powered agency is the driving PR force behind many favorite New York fashion brands like Telfar, Puppets and Puppets, and Area by CFDA members Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Pansczczyk.

In an ever-increasing digital world, the traditional approach to fashion communications has drastically evolved with the decline in print media. GKC offers a different solution for a highly competitive market oversaturated with brands fighting for a moment in the spotlight.

We caught up with team at GKC to discuss their unique and holistic approach to communications, their visions of the future, and to hear more about their exciting upcoming projects from their roster of fashion, beauty, and art clients.

Tell us a bit about Gia Kuan Consulting, your “skin in the game,” and the clients you serve. 

Gia Kuan, Founder and Principal: We are a global consultancy with a focus on creating cultural connections with lasting impacts. We take a holistic approach to communications, strategic partnerships, and programming. The media landscape as we know it is changing so much and we seek to develop impressions with a wider definition, rather than conventional communications within the worlds of fashion, contemporary art, and lifestyle. Our work prioritizes deep cultural shifts and highly targeted messaging, and we believe that the true metrics of success derive from the true impact authenticated by the people and communities reached.

What’s something people might not know about your jobs that you’d like them to know?

Gia Kuan: People are interested in in our work not only because we have the foundational skill set of what is required in the field of communications, but essentially we are really good social listeners and culturalists who understand the nuances of cultural narratives, its surrounding landscapes and how they speak to each other and collide. It’s the diverse and out-of-the-box understanding that we have as individuals and as a team that makes what we do incredibly interesting – all of this doesn’t come with training, but through lived experiences and intrinsic curiosity that my team and I have.

Mackenzie Maus, Junior Account Director: The biggest misconception is the glitz and glamour, but nonetheless the work pays off in a multitude of ways. You are only as good as your network! What you can accomplish depends heavily on who you know and how to leverage those relationships. Objectives are always at play.

Fiona Luo, Junior Account Executive: There is a lot of research, dedication and nuance that is intrinsically embedded in the work of communications. The nature of the work spans so wide that every message and every project can be so different, which sets the tones for our days. When I try to sum up what we do, I would say it is about continuously finding new and creative ways to push narratives that add to our visual and media landscape.

Lindsey Okubo, Account Executive: Public relations has become synonymous with consulting in many ways. The narratives we build and the connections fostered reflect the ways in which we process culture as it unfolds. It is our job to synthesize it and create narratives for our clients that allow them to be a part of the larger conversation while simultaneously fortifying and expanding their existing ethos. There’s a lot of storytelling in PR that is so much larger than each piece of press, it’s helping to shape an identity that creates a desire to be part of a community.

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned while working together, whether that be from a project or client?

Gia Kuan: There’s no formulaic or cookie-cutter way to approach any project; each strategy is completely unique to the brand because the brand exists in the first place because we admire the space that they own and what they do. I It’s easy to be swayed into the pressures of the industry but it’s completely important to stay 100 percent independent in the voice of what you do.

Fiona Luo: None of us on the team share a similar cultural background or upbringing—we all grew up in different places and came to be in PR through different paths. These experiences, professional or not, have all become an imperative part of our workshopping process for different projects. Someone just might have knowledge in a certain subject that aligns with a project because of a past connection that you’d never expect and be able to be the second opinion that we can rely on, or vice versa. Diverse teams will always have a richer perspective!

Lindsey Okubo: Stay curious! Have an opinion and know why you like, support, or hate something. Your point of view is important, it’s something no one else has and the most fruitful conversations can occur when you admit to not knowing something or disagreeing. Be able to check your bias, your ego isn’t your friend and be especially open to change.

What’s your perception of the fashion and media landscape today? How has it changed?

Gia Kuan: Fashion had always interested me because for me, it’s a visual language and an extended medium of an art form and expression. Maintaining that completely unique point of view in what you do as a designer is invaluable. Being able to have control and clarity in your own brand voice, social media and direct brand platforms have become such an important tool for communication, often more powerful than external media on its own. A strong point of view and empathetic voice that would organically bring you closer to your direct audience is powerful.

Lindsey Okubo: It’s not enough to be a brand, you have to have a cultural presence and point of view. Everything has started to look the same;, there’s an aesthetic and we all see it. There’s a collective mindset to approaching culture nowadays and sadly it’s become homogenous because our references have coalesced at the intersection of “cool” and “community.” Subcultures have become mainstream and instead of falling victim to the effects of affect theory. I’m interested to see the notion of individuality take itself back.

What’s the future look like for digital communications and media for fashion and art?

Mackenzie Maus: I think the future is bright and I have high hopes for Gen Z’s approach in the fashion and arts sphere. As the communications umbrella widens with more tasks, diversifying and expanding skillsets into video/AR and communicating with transparency is key. The best PR people will always stay behind the scenes.

Fiona Luo: As media in general becomes more and more accessible and the trends that it builds becomes more attainable, the smaller pockets of alternative and niche media can only grow. I think the blend of that with the general fatigue that we’re all experiencing with mega-influencing and ineffectual, clickbait media will hopefully drive a pendulum swing to more thoughtful communication overall that builds a healthier societal relationship with media.

Fashion – kind of the same! We’re seeing a time now where people are more supportive than ever of new talents and non-conventionally trained talents. My hope with working in this industry through and through is and always will be to see it become a more equitable and inexhaustible space.

Lindsey Okubo: The future is unpredictable but we can view it from a hyperstitional lens. Power dynamics are shifting, and people are actively looking for ways to break the rules. Disruption is the new newness, but transcendence is the name of the game. Maybe it is less about predicting the future as it is being able to create something timeless.

Tell us about a project you’re currently working on or share something/someone you’d like to spotlight and boost.

Gia Kuan: We are working with a very meaningful initiative starting May called Quiet Before: Unearthing Anti-Asian Violence, a six-part series of virtual programming dedicated to examining Anti-Asian violence from its many complex angles. It will consist of curated conversations with live panels around comprehensive topics including: History, Today, The Future, Policy, Culture and Education. As a coalition-based effort, this initiative seeks to share the nuanced and divergent narratives of Asian Pacific Islanders in America to chart new paths for connection so that our voices become the bridges within our diaspora. We’re excited to share more in the coming weeks.

Mackenzie Maus: Recently we started working with Gloria Noto, founder of multiuse and genderless skincare brand NOTO Botanics who is truly a pioneer in the beauty junction. NOTO Botanics just celebrated their 5th Year Anniversary and Gloria’s latest project dropped in February SHE / THEY / GAY, a podcast centering around culture, entertainment, community, self-care, art – all shared through their guest’s queer lens.

Fiona Luo: On the fashion front, Puppets and Puppets debuted their Fall-Winter 2021 collection and I am just absolutely obsessed with it. We are premiering a collection soon also with PRISCAVera that I think is so strong as well that I can’t wait for everyone to see.

On the beauty front, I love our label KOA – a Hawaiian skincare brand that formulates with traditional pacific ingredients. It’s such a genuine brand and sharing their cultural story and working with an all AAPI team makes it hit even closer to home.

Lindsey Okubo: Deluge is a new, queer, mass experimental press. Emily Segal is shaking up the publishing industry by founding her own publishing press that champions a roster of writing talent that presents marginalized perspectives in a way that doesn’t seek to exploit trauma but understands it. Through a platform called Mirror, she successfully used crypto to crowdfund her forthcoming second novel, no novel has ever been created this way in the history of literary culture. She’s hoping that through this experiment, she might be able to create a new foundation for Deluge’s forthcoming publishing endeavors.