Member Interview

Fashion from the Heart: Privy Interviews Cardiologist / Designer Roderick Tung

Post by Privy Editor
Aug. 15, 2011

Occupation: Cardiologist/Fashion Designer

Based in: Los Angeles

Last Education: Harvard

Privy Interviews Roderick Tung

Dr. Roderick Tung is a board-certified Cardiologist and a specialist in heart rhythm disorders. He is on the faculty at UCLA Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Always having a penchant for fashion, he decided to develop a fashion hobby by launching his first collection of men’s dress shirts in 2009, TUNG, debuting in two boutiques in West Hollywood. His shirts are manufactured in Northern Italy and the brand is based on quality, luxury, and exclusivity for the fashion forward man who appreciates details, boldness, and distinction. Unique features of the shirt include the incredible precision of the fitted cut, structured collar, cuff detailing, and luxury two-ply 100’s Egyptian cotton. The second collection was picked up by nationwide boutique SCOOP NYC and the 2011 Autumn-Winter collection is expected to be carried at Neiman Marcus. The brand is quickly gaining momentum, appearing in boutique shops in the major fashion markets including Miami, NYC, Beverly Hills, and more. What started as a hobby has quickly transformed into a burgeoning second career.

We sat down with the do-it-all Roderick Tung to discuss his clothing line, his career in medicine, and so much more.

	1.	When did you have your “a-ha” moment that led to creating your own clothing line?
		When I was fired by my custom shirtmakers because I was "too particular" about the shirt details. They told me that most customers ask to be measured for four blue shirts, I was actually attempting to design my own shirt....that's when the idea of "shirt designer" came to me for the first time. My friends really appreciated the details and sensibility of the shirts, so that was also quite encouraging. I knew I wanted it to be a luxury item, so I went on a search for Italian textiles and shirtings..

	2.	With the Tung collection in LA boutiques and major fashion markets in NYC, Miami, and Las Vegas, what sets Tung apart from other men’s clothing lines?
		TUNG combines the Italian luxury of a Kiton or Isaia, with the bespoke British classical tradition of a Turnbull & Asser or Richard James while adding in a modern, clean style and intelligent functionality. I have obsessed about the four elements of a shirt: The Cloth, Collar, Cuff, and Cut, and have crafted a distinctive shirt with a bespoke feel in a ready-to wear line. The Milanese two-button collar was engineered to "pop" perfectly when worn open under a sportscoat or suit. The shirt has a tapered athletic fit and is cut with a shorter bottom U-cut, so it can be worn tucked in or out.

	3.	You must be the best dressed professor on campus. Do you ever get compliments from fellow colleagues or students on your style?
		It's funny that patients comment the most on my clothing. I think that the attention to detail in fashion is translatable to doctoring, and it actually inspires confidence in patients. One of my patients told me while waiting for a heart transplant that my choice and combination of colors brightened him up and that he looked forward to seeing me and my outfit everyday. I wore a three-piece suit while lecturing on cardiac arrhythmias to the 2nd year medical school class and that prompted one of the students to write an article in the Daily Bruin.

	4.	Do you ever find your experience as a cardiologist carries over into fashion or vice versa?
		The common thread is attention to detail in the pursuit of perfection. As a heart rhythm specialist, we train our eyes to read EKGs, or electrograms, in which differences of one hundredth of a second in electrical heart activity can result in a different clinical interpretation. I think it is the same part of my brain that notices the height of a collar, or the stitching on a button.

	5.	Most people would have enough on their plate just being passionate about medicine but you’ve been successful pursuing careers in medicine and fashion. How do you do it?
		Everyone can make time to do the things we really want to do. When people say that they don't have time, it is a passive phrase that implies that they don't own their time or passions. This is true of passions, hobbies, and even relationships. My mother always told me that even the most successful people in the world only have 24 hours in a day.

	6.	You have a new luxury dress shirt line launching at Neiman Marcus this fall, can you tell us more about it?
		The shirt line was launched in the Fall of 2009 and the current collection that went into NM Beverly Hills is my fourth collection. My first collection in SCOOP NYC sold out in Vegas and Miami, and I am slowly expanding the exposure across the country at my own pace, while maintaining exclusivity. I just launched an E-SHOP @ rodericktung.com.

	7.	What do you like about Privy or the promise it offers?
		I think that there has been a wave of extremely successful Asian-American designers more recently and I am extremely proud to be an aspiring designer in Mens' fashion. Privy allows those in major cities to keep everyone globally in the local loop. TUNG is a unique brand, as it is the first Asian American brand of mens shirts based in Los Angeles.
	8.	What’s next for Roderick Tung?
		Every season continues to get better, and keeping new collections fresh and exciting is the most difficult, yet rewarding part of the job. Made-to-measure is around the corner and I hope to do blazers, three-piece suits, and 7 fold ties in the near future.