#543 Gia Kuan (GKC) | The publicist rewriting New York fashion

**Gia Kuan** (0:00)
Using fashion as a traveling medium to think about something a little broader. I think that was quintessentially what I was always really interested in. What brought you to New York ? I always wanted to move to New York. I was craving something else that was a little bit more maybe underground. Pierre is really hard to explain these days because it changes every year or so, because if you think about it, us as human beings are born to communicate and it's basically the art of communications.

**Adrien Garcia** (0:24)
What is the state of fashion in New York ? Is it still buzzing, is it still bubbling ?

**Gia Kuan** (0:29)
And you come here and you're still weirdo, but it's okay because everyone's a weirdo.

**Adrien Garcia** (0:32)
So what makes a good show ?

**Gia Kuan** (0:34)
You're really making me think with these questions. What makes a good show ? A lot of interesting people in the field are non-linear. A lot of us have many different interests, have many different paths. We want to get a little funky and creative with it. If you're looking for something of the big box agency approach, then maybe we're not the right agency for you.

**Adrien Garcia** (0:52)
What have been the milestones up to the opening of your own bureau ?

**Gia Kuan** (0:55)
The mid-20s, I had no idea what I wanted to do in life, and I just ended up taking a bit of a risk.

**Adrien Garcia** (0:59)
What drives you, I mean, on a daily basis and in your business ?

**Gia Kuan** (1:07)
Not at the time I wanted to do it. Sometimes you see substacks or newsletters break the news, more than websites itself. I get really excited when I see whether an artist or a designer doing something completely on their own that they're just not caring about, or how others are projecting themselves to the rest of the world. Stay curious, just don't be too comfortable. Yeah.

**Adrien Garcia** (1:32)
Hello, everybody. Thank you for listening to The Bold Way. Today, I am with Gia Kuan, right ?

**Gia Kuan** (1:37)
Yes.

**Adrien Garcia** (1:37)
Is it the right pronunciation ?

**Gia Kuan** (1:39)
Correct. Gia Kuan.

**Adrien Garcia** (1:40)
Gia Kuan. So Gia, to put a bit of context, where are we at right now ?

**Gia Kuan** (1:46)
We're at my office in Chinatown, New York, in Manhattan on a Sunday afternoon.

**Adrien Garcia** (1:53)
Yeah. Thank you for making it happen on a Sunday.

**Gia Kuan** (1:56)
Oh, good.

**Adrien Garcia** (1:57)
So for the people who don't know you, never heard about you, who you are, what you do, and to push them to stay here until the end of this two-hour interview in audio and video, what are we going to learn today ?

**SPEAKER_3** (2:13)
This episode you're watching or listening to was filmed in New York City. This New York chapter of Bold Way was made possible by my partner, La Compagnie. I had the chance to fly with them on the Paris-New York route, and honestly, it completely changes the way you travel. It's a 100% business class experience, much more intimate, much more comfortable, designed so you arrive rested and in great shape. What I particularly loved was how seamless the whole experience is. Lounge access before the flight, fast boarding, high-speed Wi-Fi the whole way, seats that turn into real beds. You can really work, sleep, or just enjoy the flight. And even on board, everything is thought out in detail. The food is made with chefs, the menus change with the season, and honestly, I've never eaten so well on a plane. In fact, La Compagnie is the official airline of the French national soccer team for the World Cup in the US. That's saying something. And since you guys are life's athletes too, treat yourselves to athlete level conditions. To find out more, go to lakompagnie.com and thanks again to Lakompagnie for making this series possible.

**Gia Kuan** (3:08)
I guess I'll start with who I am. So, I'm Gia. I run a PR agency in New York City. I work across fashion, arts and culture, lifestyle, and I represent a lot of independent labels as well as established ones.
Been in New York for a little over 15, 16 years and have always been in the field. And I guess we're talking about fashion and style today under, within my lens, right ? Yeah, exactly.

**Adrien Garcia** (3:36)
I really want to understand, yeah, where you're from, from what would you have made your pathway or you made it to here. And I also want to understand what is the state of fashion in New York ? Is it still buzzing, is it still bubbling ? Is there still some new stylist and new designer coming from this amazing city ?