Audrey Nuna has been one to watch on the red carpet.
It’s no different at the Grammys, where she opted for Thom Browne couture on Sunday — another example of her bold, intentional and slightly defiant style, shaped in close collaboration with stylist Danyul Brown.
“It was a very intuitive decision for me, because when my grandpa and family immigrated to the States, they made their living in clothing manufacturing,” said Nuna, the 26-year-old singer and rapper, and a breakout star of “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Raised in New Jersey, she grew up around her family’s clothing manufacturing business in New York City’s Garment District, shaped by Korean roots. Thom Browne was among the brands it produced for.
“One of the first orders I remember them fulfilling as a kid was Thom Browne,” Nuna, born Audrey Chu, went on. “So, this brand is really important to my family’s lineage and our story of survival in this country. And tonight, I feel very emotional. I’m bringing my family on the carpet with me. Down to the details of humility of this piece, as well as its beauty and the fact that there’s elements of muslin, which is what I remember my grandpa making patterns with as a kid, and exposed stitching, an element that just speaks to the purity of passion for one’s craft above perfection.”
Brown said the vision came together instantly. “We aligned immediately on a look and the Thom Browne team did too,” he said. “It might be my favorite carpet look I’ve ever done.”
The glam was completed by makeup artist Ashley Ysabelle, hairstylist Antoine Martinez and nail artist Marielle Co. “They are artists in their own right, and I’m so happy they are having their moment too,” Brown said. “A great glam team is pivotal to completing the look, and we are incredibly lucky that we are a family of creatives.”
Though Brown and Nuna have only recently started working together, after connecting during a magazine shoot in October, their partnership has already produced a string of memorable moments. At the 2026 Golden Globes, she wore Thom Browne again — a dress finished with a regal black cape and oversize white bow, styled with a netted veil, braided loops and a black lip. At the Critics Choice Awards, she appeared in a sculptural Marc Jacobs black wool dress with overlapping circles, in twisted mini-buns and glossy red lips.
“We clicked immediately and have so much in the works upcoming,” Brown said of Nuna.
For Nuna, fashion has long been a space of freedom.
“I grew up really shy, and fashion was really one of the first spaces that I felt safe to be free to express myself,” she said. “So if I had to describe my style, I would say there’s a playfulness, and that I like to exercise my freedom.”
She gravitates toward tension, between feminine and masculine, soft and hard, classic and disruptive: “I enjoy combining elements that don’t traditionally go together.”
That philosophy mirrors Brown’s own approach, and together, they push against expectations.
“I think we’re both very much in the vein of disruption and thinking outside the box when it comes to saying ‘eh’ to what is ‘good, or appropriate, or right, or correct’ or whatever you want to call it, to wear in any space,” she said, adding, “Danyul and I share a really pure and childlike love for expressing yourself through clothes, through fashion and through storytelling.”
