Meet Yoyo – a sophomore communications major here at Villanova, who not only started her own fashion brand Yoyo’s Closet this past year, but even collaborated with the company Oana Nutu by designing their corset clothing line. Nothing is more exciting than seeing Villanova students getting involved within the fashion industry, and I hope that by reading Yoyo’s story, more and more students will find inspiration to do so as well.

The Villanovan: Tell us about your clothing brand. What do you sell?

Ioana-Taisia Turcescu: My personal clothing brand is called Yoyo’s Closet, a shop I created on Instagram. It started off as a way for me to sell some of my old clothes. But my page was quickly growing and, after my collaboration with Oana Nutu, I decided to create designs for my brand as well. I worked with a friend who is studying fashion and we came out with a Fall Collection which did really well! The designs were inspired by royalty and what I thought a fairytale would look like if it were clothing.

TV: What prompted you to start your clothing business and get involved in fashion?

IT: I’ve loved fashion for so long, that it feels like I came out my mother’s womb fully clothed. Fashion has always felt, in a way, natural to me; I always knew I was going to work in this field at some point in my life. I’ll admit, though, I never quite expected to start this early on in life, but I cannot complain, I’m so glad I did!

TV: How has COVID-19 affected your business?

IT: On the contrary, it has not! I started both my collaboration with Oana and my own brand during COVID. If COVID didn’t exist, I wouldn’t even be home right now and probably never created any of this. So that’s the only reason why I’m somehow “thankful” for quarantine.

TV: What is your favorite thing about running your brand? What are a few challenges?

IT: My favorite part is definitely coming up with ideas for designs and, later, seeing them come to life. I can’t even describe that feeling. Wearing my own designs still feels surreal, even if it’s been months since we released. Of course, I’ve experienced a bunch of challenges too. There were times when the material of a corset ripped and we had to rethink the whole design. Other times, people requested returns. Fashion is a very unpredictable and that’s why I believe it’s challenging working in this field.

TV: Tell us about the brand Oana Nutu that you collabed with. What was that experience like?

IT: Oana Nutu is a luxury designer brand and sells products ranging from bridal dresses, tulle skirts, occasion dresses and, now, corsets. The story of how “Yoyo” by Oana Nutu came to life is actually pretty funny. After having 5 flights cancelled, I finally returned home in July this year. I was quarantining and spending a lot of time with my step mother, Oana, who is a fashion designer. I was looking at some of her dresses and I randomly thought how cool it would be if the top part of her dresses (the corsets) were sold as individual items.I sat down, imagined 5 designs and showed Oana. Needless to say, she was stoked. We had a feeling it would be successful, but I don’t think either of us expected it to have such an impact. Soon enough, these corsets became the “it” item for that summer. People were buying it as gifts or as a treat for themselves. During this process, I learned so much. I was never in it for the money. I just wanted to create something that hadn’t been done before and gain a better understanding of the fashion industry. And the best part was seeing how these pieces of clothing made customers so happy and confident. The whole message behind our launch was to give people the chance to buy that one item that never gets old. That one thing that you can wear with jeans, skirts, sweatpants, anything. And I am so glad I did.

TV: Do you look at anyone or anything as inspiration? If so, what is your inspiration?

IT: People. Literally. Anyone, anywhere. People in buses, on the street, on their way to work. I love seeing fashion in real life. I don’t have Pinterest and I don’t follow a crazy amount of fashion accounts on Instagram. But I’ll admit, Emma Chamberlain will forever be the queen of fashion in my book

TV: After graduating, what are your career aspirations?

IT: I love fashion, but I would love to work in the PR or social media department of a brand, be it a fashion one or something else. I would love to have my clothing company as a side business, though; that is for sure.

You can shop Yoyo’s Closet on instagram @_yoyoscloset_ and shop her collection with Oana Nutu at oananutu.com.