Feature · Fashion
Seoul Fashion Week: A Vision of the Creative Future of Korean Designers
Korean culture has spread around the world like wildfire in recent years, with the blockbuster K-pop, K-film, and K-beauty sectors attracting insatiable interest. Now South Korea is also looking to take its fashion industry to the next level.
Korean culture has spread around the world like wildfire in recent years, with the blockbuster K-pop, K-film, and K-beauty sectors attracting insatiable interest. Now South Korea is also looking to take its fashion industry to the next level.
The push is led by Seoul Fashion Week (SFW), which takes place every two years and which, according to the city government, aspires to become the “fifth largest fashion week in the world” after the ” Big Four” in New York, London, Milan and Paris.
The schedule of events, which concluded Wednesday, highlighted local talent through a mix of live-streamed runways and some of the first in-person shows since 2019. “Squid Game” star and menswear style icon Lee Jung-jae acted as a “global ambassador” while four designers presented their collections in Paris during Paris Fashion Week earlier this month, as part of efforts to attract more international attention and buyers.
Below are some of the key takeaways from the week-long event.
Models walk the runway during rehearsal for the BONBOM show as part of Seoul Fashion Week 2022 AW on March 18, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. Credit: Justin Shin/Getty Images
The Seoul Museum of Crafts held in-person shows. Credit: Justin Shin/Getty Images
C-ZANN E is a brand inspired by minimalism and traditional Korean hanbok. The models wore ornate headdresses on the catwalk. Credit: Justin Shin/Getty Images
BIG PARK’s AW 2022 collection included floral prints inspired by camellia flowers. Credit: GREAT PARK
New formats unleash creativity
Due to covid-19, most brands returned to showing virtually, filming their Fall-Winter 2022 creations with varied approaches, some to the point of distraction and others in ways that seemed almost superior to physical shows.
Seokwoon Yoon, whose namesake label’s new collection is informed by “future species, artificial intelligence robots, and extraterrestrial beings,” chose the architecturally striking Busan Film Center as his backdrop. Models dressed in colorful garments and padded outerwear stood out among the clean, gray aesthetic of the building’s outdoor seating. Yoon said that while he missed the energy of physical shows, the format allowed him to focus on certain details of the clothing. 
SEOKWOON YOON opened with a model sporting this look, with patterns informed by the juxtaposition of industrial materials and florals. Credit: Seokwoon Yoon
Yoon said that he felt that young Korean designers have a lot of potential in the global fashion industry. “They have their own process and ideas.” Concrete tetrapods on a beach in Busan influenced this sculptural piece. Credit: Seokwoon Yoon
On the other hand, the runway of the emerging label Comspace Not Enof Words appeared as a retro-style music video with energetic choreography, the Hanacha Studio show opened with a melodious piano track and moody lighting, driving home the focus. of the collection in art and abstraction. 
Models dance in the COMSPACE NOT ENOF WORDS Fall-Winter fashion show. Credit: Justin Shin/Getty Images
COMESPACE NOT ENOF WORDS collection composed of monochromatic looks. Credit: COMPACE NO ENOF WORDS
The theories of artists Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint informed HANACHA STUDIO’s approach this season. Credit: HANACHA STUDIO
Miss Gee Collection was performed both outdoors and indoors. Credit: Justin Shin/Getty Images
Korean fashion on the world stage
Hyejeong Cho, director in charge of Seoul Fashion Week, said interest in Korean fashion is growing and the city government is “actively supporting Korea’s top designers and brands to enter the European market.” . For the first time, four Korean designers, including Eenk and Doucan, represented SFW at Paris Fashion Week, a time when the world’s biggest buyers and influential editors descend on the fashion capital.
DOUCAN was presented at the Palais Brongniart in Paris. Credit: DOUCAN
Choi said her approach is to make clothes that make you feel “happy the moment you put them on.” Credit: DOUCAN
At the historic Palais Brongniart, Doucan weaved floral and geometric tie-dye prints, mostly in the red, blue, and white of the Korean flag, into beautiful silhouettes, some curvier, some more structured, in a highly wearable collection that paid homage to Seoul. “Seoul is a night city,” said the label’s creative director, Chung-Hoon Choi. “I wanted to show the lavish yet dynamic energy that runs through this collection.”
Eenk, another brand that debuted in Paris, presented a collection inspired by 1980s fashion editorials with strong vintage-inspired pieces that evoke glamor and power at once. “The (brand) identity is to seek a balance of classic yet unique, familiar yet contemporary and novel at the same time,” said Eenk designer Hyemee Lee.
EENK designer Hyemee Lee said that the growing popularity of Korean culture around the world has given designers more confidence. Credit: EENK
“Now, more brands in South Korea have their own identity, and consumers also seek their own tastes and senses instead of just following trends. I think it’s the beginning of building Seoul’s unique history and culture.” Lee said. Credit: EENK
Embrace identity, take risks
Seoul-based brand Painters was one of the labels that showcased the most experimental creations. Founder Won Jeon said that young designers often look for new trends for their ready-to-wear collections to grow businesses. With a focus on haute couture, Won included handcrafted sculptural pieces among the mix of business-friendly outfits in his new collection. One of these looks, a voluminous hand-sewn gown made from dead black fabric from the designer’s studio, was worn by a model posing in a steel-like “frame.” Other conceptual works that appeared in the framework reflected the desire to “express how (young designers) can do more,” Won explained.
“I want to put my own culture through my collection. I think it should represent where I live and what I’m working on.”
Painters Autumn-Winter collection mixes the conceptual with the prêt-à-porter. Credit: Painters
A model poses in one of the painters’ dresses, this one made entirely from dead material. Credit: Painters
Meanwhile, Mina Chung’s ethereal Fall-Winter 2022 collection embraced East Asian art concepts of “light and shadow,” which she says “describe an aesthetic that is a combination of simplicity and fullness.” Soft and fluid materials that contrast with the structure and touches of color. At a glance, she saw a model dressed in various fabrics, a silhouette inspired by an ancient Chinese landscape painting. 
“The mountains in the painting have bold, forceful lines, which can be translated into a 3D silhouette,” Chung said, adding that overlaying the silhouette with fabrics created more drama. Credit: MINA CHUNG
“I wanted part of the collection to be very bold but simple, and another part to be more direct and striking, louder,” he said. Credit: MINA CHUNG
Chung said young Korean designers are increasingly looking for what makes them unique at a time when Korean fashion is in high demand. “I think that if Korean designers don’t try harder, what little fame we have will disappear very soon and this whole industry will regress. We need to try harder to encourage more experimental designs that can represent Korea, and try to make more brands that can (match ) the international standard for designer brands”.
Top image caption: A model poses for the Miss Gee collection.
Source: www.cnn.com