About Me

Gary Symor (Paramaribo, January 1971) is a visionary teacher, fashion designer, pattern maker, and fashion consultant. After studying mechanical engineering (LTS and MTS) in Suriname, he left for the Netherlands in 1999 to study fashion design at HKU Utrecht. He graduated in 2004 with the Archetype π collection, a collection inspired by/by the labeling and pigeonholing of people, situations, genders, products, races, etc.

During his studies, he worked as a fashion designer and student assistant in pattern making at HKU Utrecht. His first major commission came from L'Oréal in 2002, for which he designed costumes for the Asian market. He also designed the costumes for the theater show Interpretationzz By John Agesilas (2003) and for five choreographies by the Toppers in Concert in 2004.

After graduating, he immediately began working as a fashion designer, but he's also not afraid of a challenge. His curiosity for product development led him to moooi. There, he developed the first prototypes for the moooi Boutique concept conceived by Marcel Wanders. He also collaborated with Richard Roelofse to develop a small collection for K-Swiss. In the years that followed, Gary Symor primarily focused on custom-made clothing. He also designed corporate clothing for clients including Sofitel The Grand in Amsterdam (2008) and Mianport Rotterdam (2010). This collaboration involved Cirquit corporate clothing and Westbroek Fashion. He has also been a fashion designer and pattern maker for brands such as Nardi Bergamo (2007), Jourmain (2011), Laboratoriom LA (2017), and Kathryn Milan (2012-2013). In 2009, he presented his first collection, titled "Under Construction," followed by "Floating Attraction" in 2012.

Besides his work as a fashion designer, product developer, and fashion consultant, Gary has always been active in education. In this capacity, he has collaborated with organizations such as Political Catwalk (2018), Brussels Fashion Week (2019 and 2023), and has provided workshops at vocational colleges (VMBO), intermediate vocational colleges (MBO), and universities of applied sciences (HBO). He is passionate about this because he believes the fashion world needs competent and constructive employees trained with vision, not just current events. Employees and professionals who can approach and solve the sustainable future of fashion with a visionary perspective. He achieves this by taking his students "out of the classroom." So, to expose them to the real world as much as possible. Since 2011, he has worked part-time at both ROCVA and MBO Rijnland, where he has worked as a teacher, mentor, and educational developer.

Gary Symor is described by colleagues and friends as driven, creative, loving, patient, resilient, and consistent. He considers himself a bridge-builder in the broadest sense of the word. The combination of these qualities also makes him a popular and beloved teacher in Paris. For example, since 2021, he has been present twice a year for examinations at the AICP in Paris. He has been able to build an international network through his years of experience as a freelancer and with the help of the educational attachés of various Dutch embassies in Europe, Indonesia, South Africa, and South America.

Gary Symor's greatest sources of inspiration are architecture, religion and faith in all their forms, nature, technology, the strong women in his immediate environment, integrity issues, and cultural experiences from different perspectives. A personal quote Gary often uses in both education and consulting is: "If you can't make it, you can't teach it (to a robot)." A more radical statement of his is: "Fashion designers need to be able to draw patterns. Otherwise, they're bothering others with their problems."