Sporty in, high heels out?

By Joel Lee

Women seem less obsessed with high heels than before as fashion becomes more casual and cheerful, according to a report by Chosun Ilbo.

At this year’s spring Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, seeing a female model catwalk down the runway in traditional high-heels was not easy, as most wore comfortable, low-heeled “slip-ons,” the newspaper said.

This new exception has become the norm abroad as towering models from Givenchy to Giambattista Valli alike have opted for the low-rise fit on the latest fashion stage.

The reason?

“It’s called ‘sportism.’ As people’s life becomes more stable on the five-days per week work schedule, the weekend outdoor, leisurely activities have become commonplace. Everyday fashion followed suit, becoming more casual,” fashion designer Hong Hye-jin said.

Despite the lowering of high-heels, people’s tastes for beauty and fashion have heightened, ushered by the avant-garde expressive experimentalism of younger generations.

“Overdressing or dressing formally actually looks countrified in urbane, cosmopolitan city,” another fashion designer, Bae Seung-yeon said.

“What looks cool these days is slightly twisting the standard dress code under one’s own discretion. It looks cooler to wear the suit unlike a suit, the dress unlike a dress,” Bae added.