Gloria's seminal undergraduate project in Fashion Design was a dress made from window shade blinds, layered together to create a gown-like silhouette. That overlapping panel technique directly informs how Gloria built VV—with overlapping leather "blinds". The soft-sculpture medium also echoes Gloria's earliest sewing projects—cosplay plushies she hand-stitched in middle school.

Gloria Im earned a BFA in Fashion Design before founding her label gsongim. Working from her studio in New York's Lower East Side, she handcrafts apparel, accessories, and home goods from leather, durable wovens, and fine metals. Prioritizing utility, her pieces are designed for relentless use, their forms moulding to their owners.

With few existing references for crafting a leather dragon, Gloria freehanded the pattern for VV, based on mythological dragon artwork. She selected the particular white deer leather for its chrome-free tannage, which pairs the white color with a matte, powdery finish. Using two leather thicknesses, she hand-sewed the piece over several weeks with assistance from her sewing partner, Ru!