|
Lee Rheeza, a first generation hanbok designer, who contributed to reinventing the traditional dress in the 1970 to 90s, has recently donated 350 examples to the National Folk Museum of Korea. The museum is holding a special exhibition to showcase 150 of the 350 hanbok through Nov. 30.
/ Courtesy of National
Folk Museum of Korea |
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Lee Rheeza, a designer of hanbok, which is a traditional form of Korean clothing, has created countless dresses for celebrities and dignitaries ― from Miss Koreas and foreign ambassadors to first ladies ― over the last 45 years.
Known as a pioneer in making hanbok and introducing it abroad, the 74-year-old designer has recently donated 350 works to the National Folk Museum of Korea.
"These 350 pieces were made for special figures such as first ladies, foreign ambassadors' wives and celebrities. The donated dresses are pieces of modern history," Lee said in an interview with The Korea Times.
She began making hanbok at an early age after watching her mother make her father's clothes. But she earned her reputation as a hanbok designer when she won the grand prize at the Pan-National Attire Contest in 1971 using her exquisite sewing skills.
Her dresses won the Miss World Beauty Contest's Best Folk Dress award in 1974, 1975 and 1977.
Crane-painted skirt and jacket, an ordinary dress designed by Lee Rheeza and worn by fashion-savvy first lady Lee Soon-ja, the wife of former President Chun Doo-hwan. |
"After my reputation grew, I couldn't help but reinvent the designs. So I applied the A-line design ― borrowing from Scarlett's clothes in the movie 'Gone With the Wind' ― to make those wearing the clothes look thinner," she said. This modernized design was applied to her hanbok jackets and skirts.
But the most important factor in hanbok making is tailoring to the wearer. "Some customers ask me to make the same hanbok that a celebrity wore. But I don't make the same design they ask for because I think every customer has a different skin color, contour and body figure. So each design should be different and exactly tailored to the wearer. Without seeing how he or she looks, I can't make the hanbok. At first, they don't accept my recommendation but after wearing my hanbok tailored for them, they are all satisfied with my designs," she said.
In the 1970s, Lee was the first in the country to hold a hanbok fashion show, applying colorful stripes, gold patterns and embroidery on her dresses. She has held more than 100 fashion shows, leading the hanbok trend in the '70s and '80s.
"Whenever I visited other countries, I closely looked at what colors they like to guess their tastes. So my designs for them focused on the character of the countries," she said.
Among her dresses, those for the first ladies seemed to shine the brightest, especially when they attended international events, she said.
"It was a great honor that the first ladies wore my hanbok and promoted its beauty to the world," she said. Hanbok for inaugural ceremonies were especially designed to focus on the figures and skin tones of the first ladies. The idea of adding a long shawl, which helped them maintain their natural posture, made the official ceremonies softer and more elegant, said Lee.
In 2000, Lee began employing another technique while suffering from stomach cancer.
"When I was fighting cancer, I thought, 'Before dying, I have to leave my last works.' So I focused on patching cloth pieces together. Since then, I have made some 300 pieces of patchwork hanbok and now I have recovered from the cancer," she said.
Hanbok can cover the body's flaws while highlighting a stylish silhouette, Lee emphasized. "I hope our hanbok will become part of global fashion trends," she said.
Lee hopes to establish a museum to showcase the garment's history. "The collection is enormous, with not only my works but also those of other artists. So my future museum might show man's lifetime from birth to death through the garment collection," she said.
The hanbok exhibition "Forever Fabulous" features 150 of the 350 donated pieces. They are now on display at the museum along with photos, needles and other tools. Visitors are allowed to try on some hanbok. The exhibition runs through Nov. 30.
chungay@koreatimes.co.kr |
|
무디스, 스페인·伊·포르투갈 신용등급 강등
