Black, fur, metal, and heels
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Seoul Fashion Week displays futuristic styles in city’s strange new building
Black to Black
By Yun Suh-young
This year’s Seoul Fashion Week, which wrapped up its Fall/Winter Show on Wednesday, got more attention for where it was held than what was shown.
The six-day event was the main cultural program that opened the controversial Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), an otherworldly, 25,000-square-meter cultural complex built on the squalor of the aging commercial district in central Seoul.
The aluminum-covered, seven-story building, designed by Zaha Hadid, has been a subject of debate for its appearance. From a distance, it looks like a giant bike helmet split in half. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon generously calls it a spaceship.
While the venue has been criticized for the audacity of its design, Seoul Fashion Week could not have been more down to earth with the textile creations featured on its runway.
Black was a dominant color like it always is for cool weather fashion. Designers contrasted the dark colors with vivid splashes of red, blue, purple and green and were also liberal in adding elements of gold and silver to accentuate the look.
Hadid’s idea of cutting-edge may look similar to the set of Prometheus. What now qualifies as modern in the fashion world feels like it was inspired by Vogue copies from the 1960s.
The fashion show was also heavy with miniskirts and high heels. Skirts were short, barely covering the thighs, and most of the high heels featured were over 10 centimeters in height. Super-high “kill heels” and short pants were also seen frequently.
Clockwise from top right are creations by S=YZ, J Koo, How and What, VanHart di Albazar, Park Choonmoo, and Jarret
Black is hip because of course it is
Black obviously never goes out of style. But after watching a slew of suits and dresses with similar color setups, it felt somewhat disappointing that the designers were not more imaginative and experimental.
J Koo by Koo Yeon-joo and Choi Jin-woo matched their black, military-style jackets with pink and neon yellow colors.
S=YZ introduced a collection of black and brown clothes in fur, mustang, leather and wool fabrics, which conveyed a sense similar to the glamorous high-end casual wear of the 1980s. Wedge heels were back to add the retro feel. Black leather skirts had slits and thigh-high socks were matched with the skirts.
J Apostrophe by Miss Korea-turned-designer Lee Ji-seon and her sister Lee Ji-yeon attempted at a classic feminine look in black and white. Leather jackets and fur tops were matched with miniskirts and wedge heels.
Veteran designer Park Choonmoo’s Demoo introduced black-and-white and black-and-blue-colored tops which were matched with thigh-high boots. Baggy pants were also common and the use of gold added a sleek, luxurious look.
How and What by designer Park Byung-kyu was the finishing stroke to the black-colored collections. He heavily used black leather in his one-pieced dresses, see-through black skirts and fur tops matched with classic wedge heels. The use of gold and silver elements on skirts, shoes and accessories added some femininity to the masculine look.
Masculinity vs. Futurism
In the men’s collection, Caruso by Chang Kwang-hyo introduced hooded tops with baggy military pants matched with sneakers. Dominic’s Way went bold with heavy use of fur on coats matched with black leather boots and captain hats.
Groundwave by Kim Sun-ho was more sleek and modern with oversized coats and monochrome colors. Johnny Hates Jazz introduced style inspired by the Viking’s masculinity. Dark brown, gray and black colors were used in leather, pants and bags.
The biker look was dominant in the men’s collection but also influenced the women’s collection as well.
Dzojchen, which was introduced as part of the Singapore Designers’ showcase during the fashion week, was the prominent collection displaying the tough rider look for both sexes.
Biker jackets in leather were introduced in black and white colors and were matched with tight-fitting pants along with boots or heels. The collection was classy and hip although the designs were influenced by the rider looks.
Steve J and Yoni P, the favorite of celebrities, introduced the usual hip-hop style fashion but this time focusing on the military look. Heavy leather jackets were matched with feminine flower patterns and wrists were accessorized with shiny spangles. See-through chiffon fabric was also used.
This year’s collections however weren’t just about being tough and rough.
Cres E. Dim by Kim Hong-bum, a young designer who rose to fame through the television show “Concept Korea,” introduced looks inspired by Alvin Toffler’s “Future Shock” published in the 1970s.
Like the collection’s name, he added sportiness to the classic style and heavily used neoprene fabric which is the fabric used for making spacesuits. Neoprene clothing was matched with leather jackets. Hats and shoes were particularly noticeable during his collection. Visor caps and shoes were decorated with see-through plastic.
Andy and Debb’s collection was inspired by the flight attendant look which was tailored as a mix of retro and futuristic. Also during this collection, neoprene was the main fabric used. Short-length one-pieced neoprene dresses and coats were matched with knee-length boots and visor caps.
Kye also used vivid blue and red colors in neoprene fabric creating the futuristic look and Le Queen Couture also heavily used metallic colors and neoprene fabric.