Ten Minutes with Ryn Wilson of Junkhouse Dollyard

Ryn Wilson hand sews each and every one of her designs. She is a Tokyo resident, a Milwaukee transplant, and the founder of Junkhouse Dollyard. Ryn integrates new and vintage fabrics to create striking and inimitable pieces. Her designs are sold on etsy and hidden in consignment shops in Milwaukee and Japan. Her prices range from $40 – $150. Ryn says, “I work in a very spontaneous and intuitional way and get my inspiration from art, literature, history, and my imagination.” Wherever Ryn finds her inspiration, it’s clearly a place where wicked dreams are dreamt and beautiful desires are fulfilled …

Oligoville: Describe a typical day in your life.

Wilson: Wake up, shower, eat breakfast (rice, natto, green tea), photograph my latest designs, go to Japanese language school, have dinner (usually sushi and miso), study, sew, read, sleep. Throw in the occasional sake, movies, and daydreaming. On the weekend anything can happen … this is Tokyo.

Oligoville: When did you know that you just had to be a designer?

Wilson: It happened naturally. I’ve always liked clothes and making things. In college I joined a designer collective called Fasten. It started out as a weekend market and then we opened a shop together.

After graduation I moved to Japan to teach English. I quickly found myself bored with just teaching. I asked around and found a shop interested in selling my work. I left Japan for five months and that’s when I started selling on Etsy. I found it to be a really convenient way to make a living with my transient lifestyle and things went really well from the beginning. I always have to be creating something, and I love that I can keep my hands busy while I’m thinking about my next project. Designing also fits with my lust for photography by encouraging me to come up with characters and act them out in the images.

Oligoville: What three things got you where you are today?

Wilson: My insatiable personality, studying photography under Maleonn, and my bizarre imagination.

Oligoville: On a typical day, describe what you’re wearing and where you found it.

Wilson: I usually wear a military jacket that I bought in Osaka, tall leather boots, a black hat and a really long black scarf. Everything else varies by the day and my mood—lots of vintage stuff I’ve found at weekend markets in Tokyo and things I’ve picked up on my travels through Asia, Europe, and the U.S. Recently I love wearing silk with nothing underneath. Today I bought a fur stole that I plan on wearing through the winter.

Oligoville: What advice do you have for aspiring designers?

Wilson: This goes for all things you create: Destroy illusions and build your own.

Work hard and love what you make. Don’t think of it as making clothing to sell, but rather a piece of art. Throw your inspiration into your designs, put yourself into everything you make and express your idea or mood. True honesty is effortless in whatever form it may take. Never have concern for what someone else may think or say—that’s the most important thing.

Oligoville: What do you do to kick back, relax, and let loose?

Wilson: Watch horror/yakuza movies and dance like a lunatic.

Oligoville: If you could dress any celebrity, who would it be and why?

Wilson: That’s a really hard question.

Perhaps Ueda Fuco, a Japanese artist whom I met last week at her opening, Symbiosis. If I were to create a wardrobe for someone I would have to spend a lot of time thinking about who they are, what they do, and what they think, and I wouldn’t mind spending a lot of time contemplating and getting inspiration from her paintings.

Oligoville: If you were not a designer, what would you be?

Wilson: Photographer, filmmaker, writer … but I actually already do these things. If I had to choose something completely new it would be a musician. I’ve always wanted to make music.

Oligoville: What superpower would you like to have and why?

Wilson: To be able to produce varying levels of sound and light from my fingertips. I think I could put on a really wicked performance.

Oligoville: When did you last laugh out loud?

Wilson: Today in class. My teacher is like a manga character, she’s just so f’ing cute. It’s too bad I don’t understand half the things she says.

Ryn is so f’ing creative, talented, and cute too. She’s the type of girl I’d love to dance like a lunatic with in Tokyo over a bottle (or two) of sake. She’s the type of designer whose clothes I’d like—scratch that—love to wear.