Designer spreading K-style gospel

Designer Jung Du-young, 39, creative director of the Korean brand VanHart di Albazar / Korea Times photo by Park Jin-hai

By Park Jin-hai

During the 2014 Seoul Fashion Week, one of the most notable trends was the diversity in men’s wear.

Among the designers, who showcased their street, military and classic inspired collections, what stole the limelight on the opening day were Jung Du-young's creations.

To back ground music that mixed elevating piano sounds and electro house music, the 39-year-old creative director of VanHart di Albazar showcased some 40 pieces, inspired by surrealist Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico.

He smartly incorporated the virtuoso's coloring and unbalanced composition in his tailored jackets, suits and coats. The black and grey suits had been pointed with blue, green brown, yellow and red color variations, with tailored layering.

"What is important is a designer's reinterpretation ability," Jung said during an interview with The Korea Times prior to the show at the brand's showroom in Gongdeok, central Seoul. "I tried to reinterpret Italian modern classics with Korean touches."

Like K-pop, he thinks that K-fashion has a future. "K-pop is based on western pop music. By introducing Korean elements into the foreign music, we created globally appealing content. The same can be applied to the fashion industry," the veteran designer of 15 years said.

He said that Korean designers are known to be strong in detail. The expression of silhouettes and lines are more delicate, compared with rather rough-cut western ones, according to him.

A model features a work by young Korean designer Jung Du-young at the Seoul Fashion Week held last week in Seoul. / Courtesy of the designer

"Thus the key to success is how to interpret the western style suit in a Korean way. According to Asians’ taste and body type, designers should not save efforts to localize their garments."

Celebrity fashionistas including actor Julien Kang, model/actor Hong Jong-hyun, pianist Yoonhan and entertainer Hong Seok-cheon were present to celebrate Jung's collection.

By creating a luxury men’s line, his past works with VanHart di Albazar have put menswear at the center of fashion. Last year’s Seoul collection had model-actor Kim Woo-bin and most sought-after model Hye Park walk on its catwalks.

Jung is one of the most well-known Korean designers and is public relations savvy. He has appeared on a couple of television shows including the recently ended SBS fashion reality show "Fashion King Korea." Paired with entertainer Kim Na-young, Jung became the final winner in February.

He made garments last year for the movie “Friend 2,” in which actor Kim starred, and this year he will not only make stage clothes for the upcoming movie “Fashion King” but will also make a cameo appearance.

“Fashion is after all a form of communication. Whether it be television or film, what I do is trying to communicate with the customers and viewers through my clothes,” said Jung.

He added that at a time where society is changing quickly, the fashion scene needs to adopt modern conveniences. Jung, saying that he most often uses his Facebook and twitter, expressed the importance of diversifying communication tools.

“Like K-pop that spread fast with YouTube, K-fashion needs to beef up its infrastructure like on-line markets or direct purchasing.”

He says that it is meaningless to be a “global apparel company,” which previously meant a hole-in-the-wall shop making inroads into foreign markets. “We are living an era that each collection in any corner of the world is streamed live online. Thus all companies now are global companies,” Jung said.

“There isn’t as much of a wide gap between fashion in New York and Seoul, or Paris and Seoul, as we previously had a decade ago, I think. If it works in Korea, chances are high that it will work in the rest of the world,” he said. “In addition, the Korean market has its own advantage _ fast market feedback. For that reason, many leading apparel companies favor Korea as a test bed for the overall Asian market.”

Jung, who studied textile engineering as an undergraduate at Kyunghee University, says that he became open to fashion in 1994, while he was staying in the New York as an exchange student. “At the time I was shocked to learn that there were so many different kinds of denim. That kindled my passion for fashion.”

He graduated at ESMOD Seoul, majoring in menswear in 1999, and holds a postgraduate degree from Yonsei University in fashion marketing. Since 2010, he has been teaching students at Suwon University, in Gyeonggi Province.

Jung says among many other things, people’s view of K-fashion has changed a lot. “Now people have started to look at K-fashion in a positive way.”

What is more, he thinks that Korea has a great foundation to nurture fashion. “We tend to like clothes and have a passion for good fashion. Thus I regard the fashion industry here as having great potential for further growth.”

After the Seoul Fashion Week, Jung is preparing to export VanHart di Albazar to China and India, by finishing its trademark registration in those countries. He is also in talks with people involved in the Paris Fashion Week.

“We had positive feedback. But through a series of contacts with them we also learned that to get to the hearts of Parisians, we need to deliver our message more strongly. For instance, instead of soft lines, more edged designs are selling. Based on their opinions, we are in the process of preparing for the next Paris Fashion Week,” Jung said.