Concept Korea returned to the stage at Lincoln Center for Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. This year marked its 7th year to showcase 5 of their most talented Korean collection hand picked by the industry’s notable figures such as Fern Mallis, found of New York Fashion Week, Stan Herman, Dean of Parmans, Collen Shering, Fashion Director of Saks Fifth to name a few.
The theme this year is ‘Rhythm of Korea, where traditional Korean music, embodying the spirit of Seoul, was the patriotic drive to direct the flow of the shows. The designers who showed are Choiboko, Cres. E Dim., Kye, Lie sang bong, and Son Jung Wan. My favourite was the special crossover visual presentation of fashion and music before each designer’s first walk encapsulating each brand’s reigning concept for Fall/Winter 2013.
Each collection was such a pleasant contrast one after another. Choiboko was the first to grace the runway this year. His FW 2013 collection is titled the ‘Dance of Gods’. He had a variety of abstract prints as if they were dancing on the fabrics of different shapes and forms. He stuck to the blander colour palette of cream, black and red.
The second brand was Cres. E. Dim by Hongbum Kim. His inspiration came from the musical term ‘crescendo e diminuendo’, this was reflected by his choice of background music for his runway show. My favourite from his FW2013 was cropped top long sleeved with paired with olive green high-waisted pants.
Next was a change of tone presented by Son Jung Wan, she presented a collection of ‘dynamic romance’. And it was truly beautiful. Her brand is an amalgamation of New York minimalistic silhouettes and romantic retro glam. Her inspiration for this collection was a Wassily Kandinsky and The Catherine Palace.
After Son Jung Wan’s girly fur on feminine flowy numbers, we saw another sharp change by Lie Sang Bong’s retro collection. The first look gave a dramatic entrance by presenting a lit-up hat against the darkness before the spotlight hits the runway. This specially gave the audience some excitement. The collection was filled with geometrical shapes and voluminous outerwear. My favourite were the looks with Piet Mondrian's 1920s world-renowned prints.
The show ended with Kye by Kathleen Hanhee Kye; a recent Central Saint Martins graduate. It is a popular brand amongst the most powerful retailers like Opening Ceremony and Harvey Nichols. Her collection was titled ‘Unemployed Youth: Homeless Youth” – drawing inspiration from Seoul Station. It was filled with dizzying graffiti coloured prints, oversized jackets and coats, which in an essence was described as a fun collection.
All in all, this collective show was fun and filled with variety. This definitely goes to show that the Korean fashion industry is the one to watch.
Concept Korea is a project to promote the Korean fashion industry and assist them to break into the US market. For more information please go to www.conceptkorea.com
Special Thanks to Factory PR and Stacey Roman
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